Posts by Mark 85

Indonesia considers smartphone tax to spur local mobe-makers

Re: Won't work.

Well.. sure it did. The monies paid in tax went into government coffers. As long as the money rolls in, they don't really care where it comes from.

LOHAN spaceplane 'Punch and Judy' test flights live online

Most excellent news.

Thank A K Stiles for the update for those of us who were unable to follow along.

Snowden lawyer PGP email 'crack' flap: What REALLY happened?

Re: what to expect....

I think you're dead on with "ignore" and I'm sure a phone call would be made to check.

As for thinking that NSA broke this, would they be that stupid to give away that they can break PGP over a relatively minor issue? On second thought, it's politics and government doing the Power Waltz.

Spy-happy Condoleezza Rice joins Dropbox board as privacy adviser

I could have be a good plan

If they only decide to do the opposite of what of she says. Otherwise... pffffffft.

Facebook claims 100 MEEELLION active users in India

We're more than Zucked.

FB is outsourcing users now. Just when you think you've heard everything.....

Honeybee boffin stings own wedding tackle... for science

I had to look at the calender...

Just a quick double-check on the date. Nope wasn't an April Fool setup. Either beer or desperation for a half-way decent grade? Maybe both?

Chrome makes new password grab in version 34

Re: Fortunately, there is still Firefox

But for how long before they join the data leeches?

Eco-friendly fluid keeps SGI supercomputer cool and moist

Re: Useful with a gaming rig?

I would think it would depend on toxicity and general messiness. If it has any toxic* properties, I'm sure some group somewhere will throw an absolute hissy fit. If it's messy and spills or leaks occur, I'm thinking that someone at home will be in deep shit for staining the carpet.

* Disclaimer - Just because it's eco-friendly doesn't mean it can't be toxic.

UFO, cosmic ray or flasher? NASA rules on Curiosity curiosity

It's a Sandworm

The Spice must flow....

Video games make you NASTY AND VIOLENT

It's not just games

Just look at the way people feel about Win8. This study is a no-brainer.

The Punch and Judy show is LIVE NOW cancelled

Pity about the weather

Well, let's just hope the next attempt has better weather. Have a pint for the effort anyway.

NASA's LADEE: A Great Gig in the Sky, now on a death dive to the Dark Side of the Moon

In space, no one can hear you go "splat".

A pity it won't hit the near side instead of the far side. At least we might be able to see it with a good telescope.

HIDDEN OCEAN of LIVING SOUP found on Enceladus, moon of Saturn

It's not a moon

It's a giant egg. I wonder when it will hatch.

Lego is the TOOL OF SATAN, thunders Polish priest

I guess it's official

A university study (who the hell pays for this crap) and a Catholic priest are bad-mouthing Lego.

On the bright side, it wasn't Playmobile or it would be certain that when LOHAN takes off, every country would have an interceptor ready to shoot it down lest it infect the countryside.

Puking! protester! forces! Yahoo! 'techie! scum!' to! ride! vile! bile! barf! bus! to! work!

Follow the money....again

Let's see...

Get the techies out. Let those neighborhoods settle back down such that the poor can afford to live there. That equals lower property values and lower property taxes. Also equals probably higher crime rate. The city/county make less money.

Or:

Encourage the techies and thus property prices/values and following along property taxes rise. The city/county makes more money. Toss in the money Google is tossing for public transportation.

If you were a city father, taxpayer, which would you rather see?

The only problem is what do with all the "poor" people.... ship them to LA maybe? <--bad joke but it illustrates the problem.

Greenpeace reveals WORLD'S FILTHIEST CLOUDS – and the cleanest may shock you

They're targeting low hanging fruit

Let's face it, Greenpeace is targeting something most people don't understand or comprehend... It's their PR department in overdrive. Yes, they should be targeting factories and waste and yes, the Middle Kingdom comes to mind. But donations come from those who can afford them... and that's the US and their ilk. They can protest in the same places they get their donations because of certain free speech rights.

I'd love to see how long the Greenpeacer would last standing in the middle Tiananmen Square holding his sign. While most of the population would be supportive just on the smog issue alone, the poor schmuck would probably be hauled off in the twinkling of an eye.

Money? What money? Lawyer for accused Silk Road boss claims you can't launder Bitcoin

Re: Having both ways...

No, you missed the point. He denies having any "involvement" but I'd say being a customer of any company is being "involved". The more you spend as a customer, the more involved your are. And let's be real... $83 MILLION dollars worth of "property" stashed in an exchange is "involvement". It may not be illegal, but if you put that kind of change into something, a bank, a financial institution, you are involved even if it's just being satisfied that the owners won't run off with your money. If he'd had that kind of dosh in MT GOX, would you say he wasn't involved? How about an $83 Million investment in say... Twitter? To invest that kind of cash requires some re-assurance that it will be safe or at least getting a return on that investment.

So I still see a paradox.. I'm not involved, I didn't run the place, I didn't influence anyone, I didn't do anything except park my cash there for no return on investment, but I want my really big big dollars back.

Having both ways...

I'm not sure I get this... he denies any involvement, yet his lawyer wants the seized Bitcoins returned to him? I think $83 Million worth indicates some kind of involvement even as a customer which he denies.

How Microsoft can keep Win XP alive – and WHY: A real-world example

XP --> Win7-->???

Interesting points raised in the article. So XP will be around for quite awhile, though unsupported. Will MS seek those machines out and hit them with fees for unlicensed software? Once upon a time, there was legacy involved... the OS needed to be backwards compatible with older apps that business had. Since the Vista Follies, MS has seemed more interested in pushing out whatever they feel like

MS has no regard for those businesses that need to keep records for X number of years due to government mandate. To upgrade an OS or software without providing legacy support should be corporate suicide for them. We had 10 PC's with Win 3.11 because the data that needed to be maintained due to government regs couldn't be used the newer OS's. The app was locked into the original OS for many reasons, the biggest being the app company was bought out and then their product line dumped by a bigger company. The kicker was that periodically our PC's and OS's were audited and MS raised holy hell about those 10 Win3.11 boxes. They demanded we upgrade at a huge cost. We finally just hid those PC's in the back room and waited for the government reg timelimit to runout.

Hotmail-gate: Windows 8 code leaker pleads guilty to theft of trade secrets

Re: Theft of windows 8 code

Per the article, he has to pay US $22,500 "restitution". So is that the value of the code or paying back MS's effort to catch him? Based on that, not much value there.

OkCupid falls out of love with 'anti-gay' Firefox, tells people to see other browsers

Re: Product != CEO

I realize what you and Mahatma are saying. But for the sake of this discussion what if it were the other way.. that he had come out for LBGT rights and some match site decided to boycott him? Ten or twenty years ago, he would have been crucified for that. He did this 6 years ago according to the article and his public statements since then (again according to article) show he's changed his attitude.

We all change. Some become asshats, others good guys. Did he change or just his public persona?

It seems he's changed so, he and his company should be shunned for something he did 6 years ago when he wasn't the CEO????

Re: Product != CEO

Nicely trolled....

I think that here in the States, one's personal beliefs are factor in using a product or service. If the management is forcing their beliefs on customers or taking a public stand on them, then yes, the customers have a right to go somewhere else. Chick-Fill-A and Hobby Lobby come to mind on this.

The politics of political correctness seem take precedence over the quality of the goods and services offered. Some companies have a strict policy on management and employees not vocalizing anything "offensive".

The bigger question is "where is the line drawn?" At what point would you not use Mozilla? If the CEO expressed hatred towards certain groups? Avowed that being a member of such a group should be punishable by death? Or would you turn a blind eye and say "So what? I'm not one of them.".

Ok.. I'm trolling back.

CERN team uses GPUs to discover if antimatter falls up, not down

Puzzled...I am

Since anti-matter doesn't act in the normal way as matter, would it react to gravity the same way? IOW, which way is "up" to anti-matter???

Artists install Monty Python silly walk signs in Norwegian town

Re: Beware what you wish for!

This will quickly be followed by videos of cats silly walking.

Amazon is decompiling our apps in security gaffe hunt, says dev

Good Grief

Looking for strings in code goes back to Leisure Suit Larry, possibly further. Didn't everyone go look at the strings in games? Many times the "solve" was in plain text. Other times there were Easter Eggs. And this guy thinks someone decompiled his code?

Microsoft: Let's be clear, WE won't read your email – but the cops will

Re: Oh darn

I was hoping they would stick to their guns on this one.

I was hoping they would stick their guns.

FTFY

First pics: Comet-chaser Rosetta hurtles towards icy prey, camera in hand

Changed flight path?

I'm wondering if the act of harpooning and landing might change the path of the comet a bit...

Facebook taps up NASA boffins to launch drone fleet, laser comms lab

Two possibilites....

Either the CIA is offering him big dosh in the hopes of enticing the Taliban or Al Qaeda types to post selfies....

or

someone, somewhere thinks cat videos will find a big demand in Africa.

ECCENTRIC, PINK DWARF dubbed 'Biden' by saucy astronomers

I'm disappointed

First venerable Pluto was demoted. Now an even smaller chunk of ice and rock is called a planet. Yes, it's name is good....both are rather insignificant but still... can we get Pluto back as a planet?

Twitter sneaks in Facebook-ish photo-tagging – how to switch it off

Re: Autoimmunity

Maybe I'll open a Twitter account just for kicks and grins and start taking photos and tagging the people and dogs in them as "Anonymous Coward". We'll see how immune you are!!!!

Zombie Nortel grabs Cisco by the neck, again

Re: 7,385,998

I would think it goes back even further than that. Maybe not to the 300 baud modem days but at least to Token Ring, etc.

Patent Trolls and Lawyers

Can we just nuke them all and let <$DEITY$> sort them out? Please...

Candy Crush King sees IPO go sour as stock price heads south

I have to wonder about this...

Back on the 18th of February, they were looking to make $500 Million their IPO. I'd say they succeeded. Then today's headline is all whiney because they're seeking $7 Billion. Hmm... did someone's ego suddenly inflate?

Given that there's a backlash over their attempt to trademark "CANDY"... I'm wondering if the smart money said "pffffff".

US-Russia Soyuz 'nauts STUCK IN SPACE after ISS dock fail

Huh?

The crew are inside a capsule on top of the Soyuz rocket, which blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

I think I found the problem... I thought Soyuz was the capsule, not the launch stack.

Re: No surprise

Have a thumbs up for a nice turn of a paraphrase. <--- yeah... intentional.

No Notch niche: Minecraft man in rift with Oculus after Facebook gobble

Zuck = Buzzwords

I've re-read several times what people have quoted and what he's said. It's all warm, squishy, give-me-hug-give-you-a-hug buzzwords. If he offers to buy a company, it's sold to him not for expertise nor for giving the company a future. It's sold for the large dollars he's offered.

Just go back and re-read the Zuckisms in this article and then ask yourself: "If I owned a company that produced a product I really really cared about, would I sell it to him?". If your motive is take the money and watch things go to hell from a safe distance, you'd take the deal. I find Zuck even scarier than Google or the NSA at this point.

Hold on, everyone ... Prez Obama thinks he's cracked this NSA super-snooping problem

Not much changes...

Just the one's who "store" the data. Same game, same players.

We dig into the GTech GDrive Mobile ... and watch WORST tear-down vid OF ALL TIME

Re: NFG

And here, I was taught that it stood for "No Factory Guarantee".

Apple says sayonara to Samsung's ninjas: iPad, iPhone don't infringe comms patents – report

So They Continue Battle Around the World

Given that some they win, others they lose, and there seems to be no clear-cut winner, I'm betting that when it's all over, neither side will come out ahead in the cash department. Ok... I was wrong. The lawyers will be the only cash winners.

British trolls to face 'tougher penalties' over online abuse

Why do politicians want to make up a new law for a perceived problem that doesn't exist and add another layer of complexity to an already overburdened legal system. You've already got Judges locking people up over basically a bar room rant that happens to make its way on twitter like the Robin Hood Airport incident. What common sense you cry!

Is this a serious question? Ok.... I won't troll, I'll give you the short answer.... Because this makes them of the "I'm thinking of the children" brigade and helps get them re-elected. Everyone gets a warm-fuzzy from such crap. On the other hand, full prisons keep the prison guards' union happy and gainfully employed.

Bulls hit city streets after alleged Samsung ad shoot hits the fan

Terrified Water Buffalo???

From what I remember of the ones I saw decades ago in Vietnam, nothing bothers them. Trucks, tanks, machinegun fire, grenades.... nope, it might have got their attention for a few moments but otherwise they just seemed to go about their business. Much the way some people get while texting.

Extortion racket borks Basecamp servers with 20Gbps web bombing

Last I heard, the NSA was using it's 'backdoor' to GCHQ to look at the same selfies. Meanwhile, the FBI is still trying to get into the NSA database to check the selfies also. IF they find out those selfies are of minors, they'll be busy arresting all of NSA on childporn charges.

Michelle Obama speaks out against censorship ... in China

Freedom of Speech.

Everyone can have it. Just not too much of it.

Boffins working on debris float models to track MH370 wreckage

Australia anyone?

A really big and relatively lightly populated continent. Their air security can't be 100% can it? It's within the arc... and it's dry land. Yeah.. it's probably a dumb idea on my part. But that's where I would head if I absconded with a really big airplane.

Interview: Cisco's security supremo on the Internet of Everything

Typical behavior (or behaviour, if you like)

Seems that the "business model" will drive this. So one had to look at where's the costs and where's the profit. There's no profit in updates or even good security. It's probably assumed that everyone's toaster will end up on a botnet.

Google flu-finding service diagnosed with 'big data hubris'

Snirk...

They blew it and yet they continue. Neither Hubris nor Indifference. Probably profit from the advertisements from the flu vaccine and flu symptom drug companies. Yes, I know, flu symptom drugs don't actually cure the flu. Neither do antibiotics but the drug companies make profit from it.

Tornado-chasing stealth Batmobile set to invade killer vortices

Hi-viz yellow??? Not that I'm aware of. But if they really want to test it, make look like singe-wide trailer. There's a reason trailer parks are called "tornado magnets".

Tornado Rule #1

They're fickle. They can pick up a house and leave a baby behind. I would have hoped they had some windtunnel testing or will at least drive it into the path of tornado, run away in another vehicle and see what happens to it before staying in through a tornado. Too many people underestimate these storms.

Kim Dotcom extradition: Feds can keep evidence against Megaupload mastermind a surprise

Worn out his welcome in New Zealand, has he?

I can't think of any other reason for the courts to reverse the decision. Unless the NSA pulled something and it's being used to persuade certain individuals to rethink things.

ZOMBIE iPAD PERIL? Cyberbadness slinger touts tool for iOS

Re: Coded by a Brit

Not exactly. Well-written comments don't point to a Brit anymore if what is posted here on El Reg is any indication. The Brits do just as much poorly written comments as anyone else.

As for the prices in Sterling... as an American I probably would to based on way exchange rates fluctuate.