Posts by Dr_N

Computer and data scientists should be as highly regarded as 'warriors' says top UK cybergeneral

Re: Wasn't there a James Bond quote

The plot of Oxidizepussy?

Bepanted shovel-toting farmer wins privacy payout from France TV

Re: Don't get it

John Brown (no body,)> They were trespassing on private land

They should have gone armed with shotguns and said they were chasing a wounded animal. It's a free pass to go anywhere in France. Amateurs.

This is not the tech unicorn you are looking for... and other stories

Re: Unnervingly dystopian vision of the future

Demon Seed?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075931/

Guntrader breach perp: I don't think it's a crime to dump 111k people's details online in Google Earth format

Re: Amazing target miss from "Ernie"

And they're off ... !

https://www.sudouest.fr/environnement/chasse/gironde-un-homme-blesse-lors-d-un-accident-de-chasse-a-listrac-medoc-5818326.php

https://www.nicematin.com/faits-divers/un-homme-grievement-blesse-par-balle-a-la-tete-dans-un-accident-de-chasse-dans-le-var-713151

Re: Amazing target miss from "Ernie"

They are drunk thugs in France, for the most part.

Hunting season starts this Sunday. Let's be careful out there, people.

You walk in with a plan. You leave with GPS-tracking Nordic hiking poles. The same old story, eh?

Re: You may have forgotten

Hunting starts this weekend so it'll be useful hunting accessories. Wine, beer, pastis etc

You buy French kit? Brave man.

Re: My current set of hexes

Upvote AND beer icon for you, sir.

Spot the dog? No, we couldn't either because Spot is a robot employed by United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

Re: RotM

Like the 'Gooney Bird' Concorde from Nemesis the Warlock?

Re: RotM

They are pretty cool. Some apps seem to get people riled. But in general I think they have potential.

A speech recognition app goes into a bar. Speak up if you’ve heard it already

Re: Palm glyphs

Bravo! (Have a Sunday pint.)

Re: Hmmm

Have heard real one twice: Forest fire and Flooding. Just need earthquake and I'll have a the full house.

Re: Hmmm

First Light> I remember studying in Brest years ago

I read this as, "studying breast".

Mr Dabbs> When I am at work on the first Wednesday of any month, I book out 12 noon to 12:30 pm on my agenda as "unavailable." Besides, it's bloody lunchtime, n’est-ce pas?

Blocking lunchtime in Outlook worked for about 3 month. Until the, "Mutter, mutter, bloody French long lunches, mutter mutter" attitude took over and people started ignoring them.

Civil Defence Siren

I tend to open the window to share its dulcet tones if on a call. It adds a certain ambience to the proceedings.

Arms not long enough to reach the plug socket? Room-wide wireless charging is on the way

You are Magneto and I claim my $5.

Repurpose as insect zapper?

Could we use this tech to terminate mosquitos ?

Re: "...37 per cent efficiency..."

Only if you keep bats.

When everyone else is on vacation, it's time to whip out the tiny screwdrivers

Re: Tiny Screwdrivers

Fry's used to be rammed with all sorts of great useful travel tools/knives/gadgets/torches. Not so much these last years.

Wearing cheap pyjamas, in a kitchen, eating peanuts and drinking beer.

Is this the Dabbs updated/Covid-era version of Cluedo?

Re: Tiny Screwdrivers

Foolish not to have one in your bag ...

https://www.amazon.com/Picquic-PIQ06102-1-Teeny-Turner-Screwdriver/dp/B001QVPHBO/

Tiny Screwdrivers

Who doesn't GO on holiday with a set of tiny screwdrivers?!

Live, die, copy-paste, repeat: Everything is recycled now, including ideas

Ditching Kit In France

I've said it before: The déchetterie or the "recycle" collection boxes at supermarkets and other stores. We paid the éco-taxe. (And Taxe d'habitation.) It's someone else's problem now.

So long as they aren't burning it round here it's fine and dandy.

In Search of Lost Time: GNU Grep 3.7 released with fix for 'extreme performance degradation'

grep, sed & awk

With a touch of shell scripting they're all you'll ever need to quickly solve most everyday problems.

Before I agree to let your app track me everywhere, I want something 'special' in return (winks)…

Re: 21st century lamp columns ... incorporating sensors that can receive and transmit

The imagery on that site is actually hilarious:

https://www.saveusnow.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/mobile-4565661_1920-e1600847678917-oz0z2qb4eis3i08ebtwlvbkng4xeulvjzhewvi7xy8.jpg

La Quequetterie

"ZiZi Top" would have been funnier.

Scientists reckon eliminating COVID-19 will be easier than polio, harder than smallpox – just buckle in for a wait

Re: Fairly worthless comparison

uk.gov are funding research into 'Ivomec sheep & cattle dewormer' (remember the Sunday lunchtime TV ads?) right now. Even though in India it was found not to be an effective treatment last year.

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-57570377

Q: Post-lockdown, where would I like to go? A: As far away from my own head as possible

Re: Lockdown Wellbeing

Which is easier said than done in many western countries.

Re: Sending DNA

"Sending DNA to the moon"

Is that a boast? Fnar.

Lockdown Wellbeing

Careful Mr Dabbs, that way lies red-pilling and QAnon.

Is there, in fact, a secret message in your headline?!

Q: Post-lockdown, where would I like to go?

A: As far away from my own head as possible

Vivo X60 Pro: Branding was plastered all over the Euros, but does the phone perform better than the English team?

Re: WiFi Calling? No, didn't think so

Try Xiaomi

You MUST present your official ID (but only the one that's really easy to fake)

Or had one too many Pils ?

Re: process failure and gaps

" If they do, you're totally entitled to return a middle finger !"

And the Post Office will then not give you your parcel.

Nor will you get vaccinated at a vaccination centre.

Re: strong ID systems ;-)

Mr Dabbs>Carte Vitale shows all of the above

Errrr. Mine doesn't. There is no photo. But that's because it's extremely old.

Aside: Driving licences are not legal ID(proof of address) as there is no requirement to update the address.

six_tymes >Fascism being pushed by the left

Oh dear. That alt.right trope? Someone's been red pilled.

Gone Native

Mr Dabbs> But over the years, colleagues and family have expressed concern that I become overly antagonistic ...

So you've thoroughly embraced your adopted country's culture. Bravo Mr Dabbs.

The UK is running on empty when it comes to electric vehicle charging points

Ol'Peculier> What about the millions of us that have no off street parking

Apparently you are meant to move house to get better services like fibre, mobile coverage and I guess off-street parking.

According to some insightful Commentards... (Chodemonkey is it?)

UK's National Museum of Computing asks tunesmiths to recreate bleeps, bloops, and parps of retro game music

Re: fond memories of laboriously typing in lists of SOUND statements ...

No need for EPROMS on the C64:

Just copy the system ROM into the underlying RAM and then switch banks.

Then change stuff to your heart's content!

Aah was it really 35 years ago ?!?

fond memories of laboriously typing in lists of SOUND statements ...

"POKE" surely ?

I've got a broken combine harvester – but the manufacturer won't give me the software key

Not just tractors

The external temp sensor (AKA a 2p thermistor) mounted in the wingmirror of many cars is now plumbed into the ECU.

Failure of the "sensor" on some models now puts the car into limp mode.

Great design work there.

On some recent Jeep models engine limp-mode = 2WD only. Even better thinking there!

Japan plans remote-controlled robotic space tourism to the ISS and beyond

Re: "controllable by the public from Earth"

They need to read William Gibson's "The Peripheral" and/or "Agency".

South Korea reports export boom in silicon, wireless comms, and instant noodles

Re: From the West Coast

You don't like wasabi KitKats?! Philistine!

Is it broken yet? Is it? Is it? Ooh that means I can buy a sparkly, new but otherwise hard-to-justify replacement!

Re: Immortal

You need to introduce it to the garbage disposal. And a 14lbs lump hammer.

https://youtu.be/LRq_SAuQDec

Re: 16GB should be enough for anybody...

Mr Dabbs> My choice of a 4K display should be a hint what I’m using it for.

Porn/Hentai/Ecchi Visual Novels ?

Re: Covid Consumerism

Fantasy role play.

Covid Consumerism

Spending too much time at home leads to one wanting to replace all your kit, Mr Dabbs? Watch out, it'll be clothes, shoes/boots and luggage next.

Lawn care SWAT team subdues trigger-happy Texan... and other stories

The Lawnmower Man

Pretty harsh. In France, in red fire-risk zones, you have to clear 50m around your house.

Even possibly having to pay for clearing parts that may not be your property.

With a €100/day charge for each day on non-compliance,

And €15000 and a year in jail if a fire starts on, or propagates over your uncleared land,

Good news: Jeff Bezos went to space. Bad news: He's back

Woosh

This whole story passed me by/went over my head.

The lights go off, broadband drops out, the TV freezes … and nobody knows why (spooky music)

Re: This is why

Either a set-top receiver or a CAM if your TV has a built in sat receiver. (If it's pointing at the bird for French TV.)

Re: Bundled TV over internet "service".

TRT> I think you know which beard astronaut's name was part of the company branding.

Was it Cap'n Birdseye?