Posts by Whiskers

Hands on with Google's Nexus 5X, 6P Android Marshmallow mobes

Too Big

Whatever happened to the LG Wine Smart 3.2" clamshell we were supposed to get in August? Something that will actually fit into a shirt or trouser pocket. <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/05/lg_to_bring_android_flip_phone_to_europe/>

NOxious Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal: Chief falls on sword

Inappropriate testing

It's starting to look as though the real problem is legislators allowing (or insisting upon) vehicle emissions tests that bear no resemblance to normal use. The same must be true for all vehicles, not only diesels.

It's inevitably easier to build a car that can comply with clearly defined special circumstances such as a laboratory or a 'poke this up the exhaust and rev the engine' stationary test, than it is to make the same car meet a given standard when it's being driven on real roads in real weather with real loads by an average driver - but it's also a lot harder to test the car in the latter circumstances. No cheating required (so it is surprising that any major car maker has confessed to cheating). This must be true for all cars, not just diesels.

It has been widely known for years, I think, that when cars are tested in the real world the results bear little resemblance to what can be achieved in a statutory annual road worthiness test - let alone the original manufacturers lab tests. It may be that the statutory emissions limits are not actually achievable in the real world, at least not without making the cars a lot more sluggish to drive. This too applies to all internal combustion cars, not only diesels. It also calls into question the principle of differential annual taxation based on the OEM figures, as practiced in the UK.

Volkswagen used software to CHEAT on AIR POLLUTION tests, alleges US gov

Re: Hopefully...

As I understand it, the NOx emmissions of a diesel engine can be reduced by injecting a urea solution into the exhaust gasses (converting the NOx into water and nitrogen) or by re-circulating some of the exhaust gasses through the combustion cycle. The latter method tends to increase the amount of particulate carbon produced which means some sort of particle filter is probably needed to keep overall emissions within requirements; it also involves considerable changes to the design and construction of the engine whereas the urea injection approach looks as though it could be a relatively simple add-on.

If you go for the urea injection method, you have to make sure you don't run out of the stuff by evaporation or leakage or just by normal use. So I can imagine an engine control program that reduces the amount of urea being injected when running conditions indicate less need - eg whenever it seems that no emissions tests are being undergone ('need' here being a legal rather than moral or engineering consideration). If that's what VW have done then the 'fix' shouldn't have a noticeable effect on normal driving performance but will mean the routine maintenance checks and top-ups of 'diesel exhaust fluid' will have to be more frequent; it may even be necessary to find room for a bigger tank for the magic stuff.

Voluminous Versailles vagina viciously violated – again

Mysterons

I think it's a loudspeaker for the Mysterons.

Turn-by-turn directions coming to Ordnance Survey Maps

On finding your location by GPS: apps such as 'GPS Status and Toolbox' by MobiWIA-EclipSim can give you your OS grid reference which you can transfer manually to your paper map - so you don't need to have a map stored offline on your smartphone. It isn't all that long since no portable GPS receiver had any sort of map on board.

Windows 10: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE to Microsoft's long apology for Windows 8

Perhaps Cortana is wanted by the British authorities, for breaches of privacy regulations, so has to stay away.

Smartphones are ludicrously under-used, so steal their brains

Re: Handling the driving?

That hasn't stopped the machines from trying to start a take-over; the other day a strange voice from the passenger footwell complained that "you are exceeding the speed limit". I'd shoved a tablet into a shopping bag and a navigation app was still running, and decided to try to be helpful.

One of these days the strange voice will be saying "you are exceeding your daily pie limit" ...

Au-mazing! Cornwall sold GOLD to Ireland back in the Bronze Age

Have comparable provenance tests been made on gold objects found in Cornwall? The Morvah Hoard and the Rillaton Cup for example.

I suspect that exchanges of fairly meaningless 'diplomatic gifts' would have been as common then as now; if so, then gold objects found in Cornwall probably came from somewhere else.

BUZZKILL. Honeybees are dying in DROVES - and here's a reason why

Sharing resources between species

What a shame it is that farmers are forced to use poisons on their land and crops to stop any species but us (and our few special friends) from getting enough to eat.

I'm sure all those poisons can't be doing us any good either in the long term, even if we aren't killed outright.

Stuff your RFID card, just let me through the damn door!

One card per wallet

The use of one wallet to carry all cards, is no longer sensible. Each card needs to be kept sufficiently far from all the others to avoid confusing the sensors.

To avoid having passers-by collecting the information carried by each card, seperate Faraday cages are required.

If the exterior of each Faraday cage card wallet were to be given a unique shape, we could use the individual wallet instead of the card if the lock were able to recognise the correct shape. I think the ancient Romans had something like that, called a key. They actually work rather well.

Radio 4 and Dr K on programming languages: Full of Java Kool-Aid

Re: Generalisation Considered Harmful

The Today Programme is too early in the day for paying serious attention to; at most, it's a way of discovering what's happened since last night and what the weather is likely to be later today. It does demonstrate that politicians and economists (and meteorologists) are as flawed and incompetent as anyone else, especially at breakfast-time. The programme does accept 'listener feedback', and the BBC have a whole programme dedicated eponimously to feedback too.

Re: Generalisation Considered Harmful

These days, a composer is as likely to create music using digital tools as analogue, and to write 'computer code' as much as putting dots onto manuscript paper.

Radio 4 doesn't assume that its listeners have a narrow area of interest; quite the opposite. It also expects listeners to have the gumption to investigate further for themselves if something they hear sparks an interest.

Chrome trumps all comers in reported vulnerabilities

Re: half truth statistics coming from Secunia.

>>2) i'm a Secunia PSI user and i can tell you that their detection of the installed Chrome version is crappy about half of the time.

[...]

Sometimes Secunia PSI will detect the version that was present when i started the computer and keep pestering me to update it even if i just updated it. When this happens i have to manually FORCE a full system scan in Secunia PSI just so that it can detect the updated version.<<

That's probably because your computer keeps files (including executables) in RAM until that space is needed for something with a higher priority. Installing an updated package doesn't change what's actually running. Stop the program and then start it again after the 'update' and there's a better chance that you'll now be running the completely updated package.

The Voices: A horror-comedy that’s as schizophrenic as its protagonist

Re: Dissociation

Wouldn't I have to watch the film if I wanted to sue them?

Dissociation

I feel that I must dissociate myself and all other bearers of the honourable name of Whiskers, from any words or deeds of the entirely fictional character depicted in this entertainment.

BT fined £800k over lax emergency text relay delay blunder

Nothing like SMS

This is a specialist service for people who cannot use conventional speech telephones, to communicate 'in real time' with callers who are using ordinary speech-only telephones. A 'relay assistant' types what the hearing speaker says so that the deaf user can read it, &/or reads out to the hearing user what the deaf or unspeaking user types. Both users can type and read if that suits them better, in which case the nearest comparison is probably with a private IRC session.

It's a lifeline for those with serious speech or hearing difficulties.

It used to be necessary to use a fixed-line 'Minicom' or 'textphone' device to read or type, but the latest incarnation of the service allows the deaf user to use a smartphone or computer instead, which is a big step, and also uses 'text to speech' software instead of a human relay assistant for some purposes.

Sick of Chrome vs Firefox? Check out these 3 NEW browsers

Opera 12 still works

Those of us using i686 hardware are still being offered Opera 12.16 as the latest version; others can still get pre-Webkit versions from <http://www.opera.com/download/guide/?custom=yes>. If sufficient users insist on doing so, perhaps Opera Software might get the message and revert to maintaining the genuine Opera.

Before "Vivaldi" was announced, there was already an independent project to create something Opera-like for power users; it's called "Otter" and is certainly worth a look <http://otter-browser.org/> although still very much in 'alpha' phase. It's based on a Qt5 port of Webkit, which seems to work better than the GTK versions.

Keyboard users may prefer something a lot simpler; "dwb" and "qutebrowser" offer a Vi-like user interface <http://portix.bitbucket.org/dwb/> <http://www.qutebrowser.org/>; the former is more complete but seems to struggle with some websites.

Basic minimum income is a BRILLIANT idea. Small problem: it doesn't work as planned

Re: What about inflation?

> Would a basic minimum income for everyone cause sellers to jack up the price of basic necessities (food, water, rent, etc.), since they know everyone has *at least* the same income available to them?<

Not in a free market. but yes for an unregulated monopoly.

Switch it off and on again: How peers failed to sneak Snoopers' Charter into terror bill

Re: Holy shit!

> "the dark cloud"

> Clearly the horsemouth nebula.

Just don't mention dark fibre.

Re: Experts?

Life peers are not necessarily aristocrats; they are political appointees. Hereditary peers are by definition aristocrats, and do not owe their status to any patronage other than whatever got their ancestor ennobled (such as killing lots of Saxons during the Norman Conquest, or giving money to dodgy prime ministers, or being the illegitimate offspring of a Royal). So hereditary peers are more likely to be willing to think for themselves.

I support the notion of appointing members to the upper house on a lottery of the whole population, for a fixed term. Perhaps with a lower age limit of, say, 50; a sort of National Service for grown-ups.

GCHQ: We can't track crims any more thanks to Snowden

To paraphrase Mandy Rice Davis

"GCHQ: We can't track crims any more thanks to Snowden" - well they would say that, wouldn't they.

Careful - your helmet might get squashed by a Volvo

Re: What a stupid fucking idea....

[quote][quote]It would also help if cars would stay out of ASLs,[/quote]

and if cyclists would stay IN them. One rule for them, one rule for everyone else, as always.[/quote]

I think in this instance "ASL" stands for "Advanced Stop Line"; sometimes found at traffic lights, where pedal cycles are allowed to gather in front of all the cars and so have a head start when the green light shows. Car drivers sometimes encroach into the cyclist's space.

Cycle lanes are something else. In London they are usually too narrow, frequently blocked by parked cars or delivery vans, or double as bus lanes, and create conflict with pedestrians and motor vehicles at road junctions, site entrances, bus stops, etc. Not to mention the surface is usually coarser than the rest of the road, and littered with things that make punctures, as the sweeping and polishing action of car tyres is less effective in cycle lanes - so cyclists in a hurry find it quicker, safer, and more comfortable, to use the same lanes as the cars. The cyclist should use discretion when doing this of course; let the pack of cars go past before moving out, there's usually a break in the stream of cars before the next pack turns up (thanks to the effect of traffic lights).

Yellow sash

That cyclist would be better protected by wearing something bright instead of that road-coloured jumper; might not distract Volvo drivers quite so much as a high-tech heads-up thingy in the car, but would work for all makes of vehicle and doesn't need batteries.

Of course, no-one ever rides a bike under leafy trees or between tall buildings, where the GPS signal isn't.

Égalité, Fraternité - Oui, peut-etre. Liberté? NON, French speedcam Facebookers told

Speed limits are a distraction

While drivers are peering at the speedo and trying to remember what the last speed-limit sign was, and searching the verges for the next one, they aren't paying attention to the road and weather conditions and the pedestrians and animals waiting to leap out in front of them.

A speed limit also leads people to think that 'that is the correct speed for this road' regardless of anything else, which is I'm sure at least part of what causes motorway pile-ups in fog and rain.

Hazard

Why not post 'hazardous road' warnings for the places where the speed cameras are placed? After all, there is no other legitimate reason for installing speed cameras - and who could object to informing drivers of hazards?

Mystery Russian satellite: orbital weapon? Sat gobbler? What?

Re: Useful debris

Manoeuvering is what we've got. You don't have to lift everything all at once; a little bit here, a litle bit there, squeeze the wiggle room a bit, and the costs can be "lost" in the bill for the main payload.

Useful debris

I wonder how much of the "debris" out there has deliberately designed potential for further use? Someone could be making a sort of Meccano or Airfix kit for assembly into something useful.

Rare Stegosaurus skeleton moves into plush London pad

That's Natural History Museum

National History Museum? Surely not!

<http://www.nhm.ac.uk/>

Clara goes to the dark side, with dark secrets revealed in Dark Water

Tardis keys are more than mere bits of metal, they are part of the Tardis - &/or part of The Doctor. They are only tangentially associated with gaining access to the Tardis.

You can crunch it all you like, but the answer is NOT always in the data

Re: The question?

Quite. First, analyse the question; that should tell you what data are required, or that no amount of information will provide the answer, or that what you need is not available.

Doctor Who becomes an illogical, unscientific, silly soap opera in Kill The Moon

Re: 1.3 billion tonnes

"I think you'll find that extra mass is soup."

I follow your reasoning, I think. Threatening the egg would have been, as it were, something of a clanger. And of course that brings in a link with The Master, albeit tenuous. That could be interesting! <http://www.freewebs.com/1969clangers/home.htm>

Psychotic episode?

Could it be that one or more of the characters is experiencing some sort of nightmare or hallucination? The Doctor clearly isn't his normal self, and Clara is showing signs of stress.

Re: 1.3 billion tonnes

"Another way to put that figure in perspective (of some strange sort) is that Earth itself has lost more mass than that due to escaping hydrogen since dogs were domesticated."

I think you could be on to something there; the dogs are aliens who've been quietly exporting dog farts to a parallel universe to build up enough mass to swap the moon for a neutron-egg to hatch a space dragon ...

So long Lotus 1-2-3: IBM ceases support after over 30 years of code

Re: The one time Microsoft marketing actually worked...

Even that was more a failure of Lotus marketing. My office used 1-2-3 in the 1980s, and a few of us wanted to have home computers that we could take work home to - but 1-2-3 was far too expensive for us to buy our own copies, and our employer was paranoid about doing anything that might infringe the Lotus EULA. So we had to resort to the 'clones' and 'compatibles' that we could afford. I ran Borland Quattro Pro on my Amstrad PPC 640 D - and still don't understand how it was vastly cheaper than 1-2-3 yet just as reliable and with a better user interface and some useful 'extra' features.

iPAD-FONDLING fanboi sparks SECURITY ALERT at Sydney airport

In the Olden Days ...

Before tablet computers were invented, the trick for being invisible in a working environment was to carry a clipboard. The magic now also works electronically, it seems. (The makers of 'Star Trek' probably used it first, of course).

Archaeologists and robots on hunt for more Antikythera pieces

Re: Ancient technology ...

Notice that the Antikythera device and Trajan's Bridge were created by Greeks, not Romans, and that the London water-lifiting device seems to have been devised in Britannia, not Rome.

I suspect the Roman empire was responsible for holding back, or even reversing, the development of science and technology over a large part of the 'old world'. If it didn't serve to strengthen the empire or amuse the emperor, they weren't interested.

TROUT and EELS in SINISTER PACT to RULE the oceans

I wonder if dogs domesticated humans by starting with a similar ploy?

Before I Go To Sleep turns out tense enough to keep you awake ...

It was good on the radio

Stella Gonet's reading of the book in five episodes for the BBC, is excellent. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0125hs8/episodes/guide>

CNN 'tech analyst' on NAKED CELEBS: WHO IS this mystery '4chan' PERSON?

Re: The other trick that stumps all hackers

I recently invented a variation on that (by accident of course); set up the password and then change the keyboard map. Well it kept /me/ out for a few minutes ...

Britain's housing crisis: What are we going to do about it?

... or perhaps a not fucking medal?

Re: Solution

I'd rather like there to be less of me. But not fewer, as there is only one and I'm irreplaceable (just like everyone else).

There is certainly something to be said for taxing (or even confiscating) housing that isn't being lived in. But that would have only a tiny effect on the actual housing supply.

House owners are easily dazzled by the large prices being quoted for property; but those prices aren't real money - if you have to pay an equally inflated price to buy your next house, the inflated price you can sell the old one for has no meaning. You can only turn that into real money if you buy a cheaper house or no house at all, or if your heirs are in a position to do that instead of using the sale of your house to pay off their own mortgages or get themselves onto the 'house owning ladder'.

But the government does have a nice little earner in the form of 'death duty', based on the total market price of all you possess. So they have good reason not to let house prices fall. (The tax is payable whether or not your heirs actually sell any of your stuff).

But London's gridlocked housing market can only be eased by either making more houses or reducing the number of people wanting to live in London. The only way to do either of those things in a humane sustainable manner, is to let market forces do it - which is where local and national government regulations do have a useful part to play; not by fixing prices or forcing people to go away, but by ensuring that their laws and taxes no longer create an artificial shortage of housing or glut of people in London.

Pimp my lounge and pierce my ceiling: Home theatre goes OTT

Mono

I´m still catching up with this new-fangled stereo stuff. Mono with clear dialogue and subtitles that are legible would be better targets to aim for than any of these special effects. There is no room in my flat for a herd of speakers - and I can really do without my neighbours using adjoining flats and stairs as resonant chambers for their ghastly bass amplifiers.

LOHAN acquires aircraft arboreal avoidance algorithm acronyms

Re: CATS

Or Keep Away from the Trees, Silly (KATS, obviously).

CATS

Circum

Arboreal

Transit

System

Asteroid's DINO KILLING SPREE just bad luck – boffins

Re: Bad luck...

The "Silurians" are tucked away in various hiding places in suspended animation, waiting for conditions on Earth to recover from the disaster which they predicted. There was also at least one "Silurian space ark" carrying dinosaurs to another planet. Doctor Who has had a few difficult encounters with them, so it must be true.

Banning handheld phone use by drivers had NO effect on accident rate - study

Re: re : James 51

In the UK 'Highway Code', only those rules expressed as MUST or MUST NOT actually have the force of law; all the others are advisory (although they may be taken into account if an accident leads to legal action).

Pedestrians:

18

At all crossings. When using any type of crossing you should

always check that the traffic has stopped before you start to cross or push a pram onto a crossing

always cross between the studs or over the zebra markings. Do not cross at the side of the crossing or on the zig-zag lines, as it can be dangerous.

You MUST NOT loiter on any type of crossing.

Laws ZPPPCRGD reg 19 & RTRA sect 25(5)

Cyclists:

64

You MUST NOT cycle on a pavement.

Laws HA 1835 sect 72 & R(S)A 1984, sect 129

69

You MUST obey all traffic signs and traffic light signals.

Laws RTA 1988 sect 36 & TSRGD reg 10(1)

<https://www.gov.uk/browse/driving/highway-code>

So the little green and red men are advisory only for pedestrians crossing the road, but the big red amber and green traffic lights at road junctions are obligatory for cyclists just as they are for motor vehicles.

Spinning SPACE DUCK is comet-chasing Rosetta probe's PREY

Sphinx

Too big for a duck. Sphinges are known for being mysterious big and rocky.

Google's Pankhurst doodle doo-doo shows the perils of using Google to find stuff out

Re: But what about the doodle?

156 is the number of strokes on the hour bell of a 12-hour clock in 24 hours. It's also the bus from Vauxhall to Wimbledon. I don't know what either of those has to do with the Pankhursts or the WSPU or votes for women.

It is odd that Google omitted the WSPU colours.

Dubai to get huge climate-controlled domed city and giga-mall

Xanadu

Unaccountable rulers tend to self aggrandisement of this sort; but if you can't abide living anywhere but in your ancestral lands despite the unbearable climate, I suppose there's a certain logic to installing air-conditioning over as much of it as possible. The essential technology certainly exists, even if no-one so far has tried to enclose such a large area all at once. (Eden Project in Cornwall: about 250,000 sq ft total in two "biomes". Great Glasshouse in the National Botanical Garden of Wales: 15,300 sq ft under one glass dome.)

They'll have to let some poor people in, to tend to the rich ones.