Posts by Mark

Brits suffer 'cinema TV' price hike

£1000 would pay for

A trip to Hamburg, a tour of the red light district and you could come back with the TV too.

Priceless!

Summer debut for Judge Dredd computer smart-rifle

Wouldn't an AA-12 be better

i.e. a rapid fire shotgun that fires mini grenades out to 175 metres?

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4ebtj1jR7c

for more; its like one of those JML adverts for cooking accessories. "With your AA-12 you can slice and dice, but wait, there's more!"

Nork nuke quite a lot less powerful than Hiroshima

Team America?

Last time Team America got involved in North Korea, the North was handing the combined US/SK team an ass wooping, until MacArthurs brilliant idea to send some of Team USA up the sidelines to Inchon before reentering the field of play stopped total disaster. He then proceeded to march almost all the way to a touchdown at the NK end before half of Team China poured across the border and invaded the pitch, sending them all back to the halfway line

Team Americas current plan seems to be to hope there are enough mines on the half way line to blow all of Team Korea into orbit BEFORE they start playing....

Microsoft yanks preferred status from Daddy Gates' old firm

Experience in 47 states?

So why hasn't Microsoft been sued in the other 3?

eBay wins French luxury counterfeit case

Interesting

Note that eBays refusal to do active policing did not do it any harm, whilst Craigslist seems to have capitulated on pretty much the same issue.....

Microsoft to EU: Cut me down, and Google will rule the world!

As far as I can tell

There is nothing preventing Microsoft distributing a Firefox installation with its own search engine as default. I presume the same is true for Opera etc.

US states mulling Google book-scan pact

I think

More than anything else, this shows the stupidity of the current copyright legislation in granting such long periods for works. If everything had a protected period of (say) 10-20 years after publication, then this issue would not arise, Instead we have these ridiculous periods of about 70 years after the death of the author. I could invent a machine or drug that saves millions of lives and would not expect the same ridiculous period.

Apple drives iPhone app developers to the brink

Harassment - yes it is!

There are limits in the number of times you can bombard someone with calls and emails, so yes it can be harassment. One email per day ought to be enough. Harassment under UK law is almost anything the victim feels it to be, and 22 emails definitely exceeds the reason actions getout clause of the legislation

However, on the other side of the coin, you can (in the UK) unilaterally charge (a reasonable amount) of interest and/or fee on money due outside the agreed payment schedule. I forget the legislation permitting you to do this, so maybe someone can remind me.

The only flaw to this is that your contract and legal rights may fall under Californian legislation, but you may have a getout if Apple has a head office over in the UK, and an even better one if it pays you from there..

Branson mothership bottom smacked in 'touch & go' incident

Solution to problem?

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1949/1949%20-%201230.html"

Goodyear Crosswind Landing Gear

How the government uses dirty data to legislate morality

Not another law

I fail to see why the government has this obsession with drafting new laws to cover specific offences, when there are plenty of current statutes to cover the situation.

The author raises the issue of necrophilia; it need not be a crime in itself as there are any number of offences relating to grave robbery, failing to notify authorities of dead bodies, not to mention the old favourite health and safety regulations which would be used without stretching them too far.

The law on sexual conduct should be drastically simplified to the point where it simply says that all consensual sexual relationships which do not cause any long term harm to those involved is non of the business of the state. It could solve prostitution by only regulating matters which it should be involved in i.e. the health and safety of those involved and ensuring the government taxes the income.

Similarly, it could avoid dithering about how dangerous drugs are by decriminalising and taxing them according to risk, making them a purely medical matter, and ensuring problems with dirty needles, purity of supply etc are solved by having dispensation from pharmacists.

The extreme porn law and cartoon sex law is another prime example of the governments desire to interfere in matters which again should be none of its business. Poor Mr Timney is soon not going to be able to charge anything at all to expenses when his wife is hard at work at the Home Office, for fear of criminal charges.

IBM fingered over early Linux mistakes

What planet..

...are these guys from?

Private individuals only tend to contribute to projects they're interested in; why should companies be any different? I know I only contributed to a certain area of Linux because it was a field I was interested in and had experience of.

The whole point of Open Source is that if you have a problem with a project and can solve that problem by either fixing or extending the scope of that project you are free to do so. However, and this is the good bit, your code is open and free for all to use. Microsoft used to "embrace and extend" in a proprietary fashion; there is nothing wrong with extending for everyone.

Obama says his new chopper is 'procurement gone amuck'

Washroom??

Why doesn't he slide open the door, get out his chopper(!) and p**s out of the door like everyone else.

To paraphrase an ancient political maxim:

Its better to be on the inside pissing out instead of outside pissing in

MoD orders £3m anti-friendly-fire 'Combat ID Server'

Cool

hack into this server when you're at war with the UK and know where all the "friendly" units are.....

X2 triplex supercopter gets tail-drive hooked up

Russki's got there first

Haven't time to do exhaustive research on the issue, but a quick Google turned up the KA-50

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT3IFVAE7CU

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamov_Ka-50

I grant that the KA-50 is still in the 150kt category though; it doesn't have a pusher prop (or Airwolf style jet assistance!)

Larry Ellison gets huge pay rise

25 billion isn't all it seems

I'm willing to bet most of it represents his stake in Oracle, so if ever Oracle went down the tubes, so would his piles (of money, I mean)

The 70 million is just pocket money.

US made to wait for Quantum of Solace

Craig

Turned in a reasonably creditable performance. I preferred the fact that Bond went without the pile of gadgets and turned into the harder edged character of the Fleming novels.

OK, he wasn't Sean Connery, but no one is perfect!

Royal Navy plans world's first running-jump jet

Weapon changeover

A speedy and smooth change of weapons for the planes aboard a carrier is vital for its own defence. "Back in the day" the Japanese were caught in one re-arming to many at Midway, and that battle essentially decided the war.

@Scott: its difficult enough getting a carrier weighing 65k tonnes rolling forward in the first place, let alone adding a few knots to its speed.

@Phil: FATAL is a brilliant idea. Not to mention the fact you could use it for paying tourists during peacetime......rush down to the Patent office at once.....

American man too fat for execution

@Sarah Bee

As far as this goes, this guy has been convicted of multiple murders and not some impulsive one-off, so if the evidence is up to scratch I have no problem in wishing him "bon voyage".

However, in total contradiction to what I've just written, my reservation about the death penalty is the standard of evidence and legal practice used in such cases. The reversal rate in states where the death penalty is used often is in excess of 75% and it costs many millions in legal fees to actually execute someone.So whilst I approve of the death penalty on specific individuals I'm against it on general principle.

UK boffins roll out video periodic table

I see

They have the obligatory mad shock haired scientist and his trusty sidekicks...

Google will anonymize YouTube data before sharing with Viacom

Desanitising

Ok, so you find out from the data that user #2183 is uploading one of your movies.

You then go onto Youtube and search for the title of the upload, and lo and behold, you get the users handle and you can find out if they've uploaded some personal info to make him identifiable....

Paris, because being on Youtube did wonders for her 'career'

Rowling ruling bolsters privacy chief's view of data protection

I have a suspicion this will fail

On the simple grounds the photographer and JK were on public grounds and the right to privacy when in public does not hold.

Natasha Henstridge braces for Impact

Dwarf Star Emergency Plan

Send Chuck Norris to give it a roundhouse kick out of the galaxy.

Paris, because she always shines brightly ....

Amy Winehouse pitches for Bond theme

Mark Ronson may survive 12 Bond themes

But I wouldn't take any bets on Amy.

Paris, because her tats are more discreet.

Minister: Waste wood is 'huge potential resource'

I've got wood

Send Paris Hilton round to collect it!

BOFH: The London Underground vending machine conspiracy

About the Boss

@Rob: this Boss knows his Sun-Tzu "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer!". He might just live a little longer that way

Dave Cameron pledges to Open Source UK.gov

Before you Luinix hippies all vote Cameron

I was pleasantly surprised by NuConservative under Cameron until I learnt he was heavily in bed with Cliff Richard (!) over extension of Copyright.

MPs: Axe Nimrod subhunters to balance MoD budget

Why Nimrods?

Someone please explain to me why they're still putting their sub-hunting stuff in 45 year old Nimrods when there are nice shiny new Airbus planes rolling out of Toulouse which are at least partially UK produced, could be serviced at almost any commercial airport, are wide body and could hold all this kit in much more comfort?

I notice the new Nimrods use Airbus technology already, so why not go the whole way and simply use something that is as close as possible to an existing product off the production line?

Even the Americans are (trying to) do this with their tanker fleet (assuming pork barrel politics doesn't stop it).

Piscine killer menaces UK rivers

It looks cross

Mind you, I'd be bloody furious after being hooked and pulled out of the water

Heathrow 777 crash: 'No anomalies in the major aircraft systems'

Pilots off hook?

It looks like the AAIB at least appears to be backing the pilots version of events; it seems the engines provided less power than commanded - the question seems to be "why?".

Pirate Bay slapped with copyright charges

I would be surprised

...if they cannot get this application dismissed.

In the last action against TPB, higher courts have already ruled on the matter, so bringing new allegations isn't likely to hold water. Just because there is 4600 pages in the complaint doesn't mean it will fly.

Politically things aren't looking good either. In Sweden it seems that people are becoming increasingly aware of the draconian overuse of copyright and there, and I get the impression the government is not making itself popular over this.

I even notice they've changed their logo:

http://static.thepiratebay.org/doodles/jubil2007.jpg

Tiscali bandwidth throttling flub fix flops

Plusnet

If you're on Plusnet (or quite a number of other ISPs) there's a fair probability that you'll be on a Tiscali LLU, despite Plusnet being owned by BT.

As I'm currently on a contract at Tiscali, and have worked in the past for BT (and others), I can't say too much, except to observe that they don't seem to have any more (or less) problems than any other ISP.

Paris Hilton chosen because I'd always like to have Paris.....

Showdown over encryption password in child porn case

Everyone should remember that

Reading your rights is named after a thoroughly unpleasant guy (Miranda), a case which has gone on to substantially improve police treatment of accused, both in the USA and round the world.

The law has a duty to ensure that everyone has a degree of protection from the state, and unfortunately it has to protect the unsavoury as well as the righteous, because it cannot separate the two beforehand.

Basically, it seems the police screwed up the gathering of evidence, and if they do then the case should be thrown out. The law is designed to ensure the accuser has to meet standards in order to protect the individual, and this case is no different.

Amazon defies French courts over shipping costs

Petty Bureaucracy override

Does it say anything about having to charge an "economic cost" for shipping?

Simply charge 0.01euro for the froggy b**tards!

Alternatively, give a discount equal to the shipping cost for all French addresses.

Mk II... er, Tank Chair trundles into Las Vegas

Similarity to Davros

Can it go up stairs?

Office update disables MS files

What's wrong with a warning?

I can understand that they want to deprecate these file formats due to such concerns, but I would've thought a simple warning that the files are not regarded as secure on load/saving such a file would've been enough.

New Jersey bans sex offenders from the web

Eighth Amendment? What about First?

I suspect it is unreasonable breach of right to free speech.

@Unworkable: it is daft, but with the super-dooper wireless modems nowadays I can be in my nearest pub and still get a connection from home :-)

London PR outfit in sex-on-desk email shocker

I want to know

Where I can get a high booted strumpet for my desk.

BOFH: Xmas party: Get a wriggle on

Re: Ice Cold Lager

Brits like John Major drink beer at room temperature; Brits who watch footy have learnt the dubious pleasures of ice cold Fosters and "Stellaaaaa"

HMRC offers £20k reward for ID goldmine CDs

Gordie needs to unlock his wallet...

If this were a ship lost at sea that had been salvaged, the reward would be substantial.

Whilst there is no fixed percentage, Salvage arbitration awards have ranged from 25% of the value of recovered goods in small cases down to 1% in the case of larger vessels. Even accepting the lower percentage figure, recovery of the disks should carry a reward of about £15million, given the estimated £1.5billion value of the data on the black market (possibly even more to a telemarketing company!). £20k is just poxy. Even given the fact that no risk is involved, the government should recognise that it is in its interest to get them back, so offer a very worthwhile reward.

Child protection site to show Scottish sex offenders

On the website

We get lots of pictures of that guy who had sex with a bike.

Hold on, lots of us have sex with bikes..... just not the two wheeled variety/

Vietnamese cops jailed for death row pregnancy ruse

Why use an inmate??

When I'm sure they could've performed an "on the job" workout?

Battle of Britain pilots actually crap shots

Paris Hilton angle

I don't think there was a Hilton hotel when Paris was occupied by the Germans in 1940. Paris, on the other hand, has been occupied by just about everyone since then..... (allegedly)

Shortcomings

He's hardly creating a splash with his news. The difference between the two sides was not simple, and unlike the legend, in fact Spitfire did not have a massive advantage over the ME109 fighter; one on one, it was a prettty even battle. The ME109 had advantages to be taken use of, as did the Spitfire.

ME109 had lower visibility and poorer turn capability, but all it had to do to get out of the sights of a Spitfire or Hurricane at the time was dive. The British plane would die of fuel starvation unless the pilot did a half roll and converted it into a positive-g dive. Ditto upside down flight; keeping positive g was essential. The ME109 had better guns and could survive a fair pummelling from the .303 machine guns of the Spitfire, or Hurricane. The ME109 is (arguably) a better aircraft than the much more common Hurricane.

Moving onto pilots, a lot of German pilots had been putting in a lot of combat experience in Spain, ... Poland, France and were perfectly capable of getting the best out of their machine. Many Allied pilots were inexperienced as they'd lost a number in France. Dogfighting is either learned by experience, or good training, as the US training system has shown. Head to head combats are rare, so the closing speed is not 600mph, but certainly could be 100mph+. Leading with primitive sights is damn difficult and tracer is not perfect as assistance.

What probably helped immeasurably is that the British normally knew where and at what altitude they'd encounter opposition, so could start from a superior tactical position.

The real advantage the British had was the limited loiter time of the German fighters. The ME-109 barely crossed the White Cliffs of Dover before it was time to turn round again. I've heard loiter time over London was about 10-15 mins. If they encountered opposition on the way, they had to head home straight after the fight. Once they were out of the picture, the Hurricanes could partay with the bombers with no serious problems.

And finally, if a pilot survived being shot down, a British pilot would get a trip back to his base, and a replacement aircraft. A German pilot would get a trip to a POW camp.

Bike bonk bloke lands on sex offenders' register

Re:John A Blackley

Apparently (or, as reported by the Torygraph), in Scotland it is an offense to simulate sex with an inanimate object.

So, does every woman with a Rampant Rabbit have to come south of the Border for self induced stimulation?

I fail to see

What offence he has committed. He's in a private room having what amounts to a w**k, which I'm sure has been done countless times. I entirely fail to see, even given his choice of inanimate stimulation, how he could plead guilty to this.

Hypersonic hydrogen airliner to bitchslap Concorde

Why is it that?

Future aircraft designs always closely resemble something out of Captain Scarlet?

Paris Hilton heads for the cryogenic freezer

There's a problem

Paris Hilton is brain dead already.

Met used 'dum-dum' ammo on de Menezes

Stop this man

The problems with wording orders haven't changed since Henry II said of Thomas a Becket: "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest!".

Red Arrows Olympic 'ban' causes online furore

Red Arrows

I must agree that the Hawks are a little "old hat" by now, and probably due for replacement.

What about upping the order for Eurofighters by 9 (+spares) extra for them?

I'd sign a petition to get that moving along. Using frontline fighters would be a much better idea and good for exports too.

MoD in £270m splurge on extra HQ computer terminals

£82k per system?

Even PC World doesn't rip you off that much!!