Posts by far2much4me

Oracle swings axe on cloud infrastructure corps amid possible bloodbath at Big Red

Re: No Change There Then

Lawyers! Don't forget the lawyers! I don't see any of them being laid off.

Texas ISP slams music biz for trying to turn it into a 'copyright cop'

Cox Too

The Media companies are suing Cox Cable on pretty much the same grounds.

Super Cali goes ballistic, Starbucks is on notice: Expensive milky coffee is something quite cancerous

Re: Not a big deal

Unfortunately, the way Proposition 65 was written (and passed by the stupid voters), was any detectable level of carcinogen requires the warning. As tests have gotten better (as in detecting ppb), it seems practically everything has carcinogens. There was a lawsuit about 20 years ago to require the "organic" markets to post signs because ripe fruit contains several detectable carcinogens. They lost because the judge had some common sense. This time they won. Because the judge is stupid and, you know, big business.

2 + 2 = 4, er, 4.1, no, 4.3... Nvidia's Titan V GPUs spit out 'wrong answers' in scientific simulations

I Don't See The Problem

"Take for instance software that models molecular interactions."

At the quantum level, there is uncertainty as to position, or even the outcome. It seems these cards are modelling that behavior.

Facebook regrets asking whether it's OK to let adult men ask underage girls for smut pix

I Thought It Was Deliberate

1. Post question.

2. Record answers.

3. Report anyone who answers "yes" to the secret government watch list.

4. Announce that Facebook is fighting crime and can be "trusted".

'Repeatable sanitization' is a feature of PCs now

Pharmaceuticals

I can see a use for this in pharmaceutical manufacture. Most drugs are manufactured in asceptic controlled areas and need to be sanitized. When they come up with one that can be autoclaved, then they will really have something.

Does my boom look big in this? New universe measurements bewilder boffins

Dark Matter

Yes, yes. By all means, blame dark matter. Again.

What did we say about Tesla's self-driving tech? SpaceX Roadster skips Mars, steers to asteroids

I'm Impressed!

This roadster is going over 54 million km on a single charge.

In Soviet California, pedestrian hits you! Bloke throws himself in front of self-driving car

I am Offended

As a native Californian, I resent your use of the term "Soviet California". Everyone know it's the "People's Republic of Kalifornia".

Argh, my loafer just fell down the rope ladder! Yes, I'm in the Microsoft treehouse

I See A Big Gender-Bias Lawsuit Ahead...

... because everyone who had a tree house as a kid knows - "NO GIRLZ ALLOWED!"

After seven-hour operation, the ISS has a new 'hand'

With Apologies

It just keeps popping into my mind: "Let's win one for the old gripper!"

Twitter: We also made a shedload of cash from Russia's trolling during US White House race

It Seems Poetic

After all the accusations by the Left that the Russians interfered with the election, it somehow seems poetic that Facebook and Twitter, in the heart of Left leaning Silicon Valley, in the heart of Left leaning California, should be the means the Russian used. All due to capitalist greed, too.

Thousands of hornets swarm over innocent fire service drone

Re: "Scumbags" is understating matters

"some Asian hornets get REALLY big, close to 2" long...you do NOT want things like this in Europe."

Of course not. Europe does not want non-metric hornets!

US laptops-on-planes ban now applies to just one airport, ends soon

Guns And Explosives

A few year ago, a husband and wife shooting team were nice enough to do the score keeping and publishing on their laptop. Then they took a trip and TSA detected traces of explosives on the laptop. Apparently enough gun powder residue was transferred from the score sheets to the fingers and the keyboard to be detectable. The got a good grilling, but eventually convinced TSA about what must have happened. Since I assume the explosive detection detects oxidizing substances (e.g., nitrates, perchlorates, etc.), it occurred to me that fertilizing the lawn and garden could transfer enough nitrates to your shoes to be detected. So I became very careful about which clothes I wore to the airport. But I still wonder how many people get caught be false positives in airport security.

What went up, Musk come down again: SpaceX to blast sat into orbit with used rocket

Re: First ? Erm ...

Back in the 80's, I toured a machining facility that did a lot of work for NASA and JPL. One of their special contracts was re-machining the solid booster segments. After each launch and recover, the segments were broken down and cleaned. Then the top an bottom where the O-rings were fitted were re-machined to fit properly. Apparently the heat from the solid fuel caused enough warping to require this. If SpaceX can relaunch without having to replace/repair/refurbish half the components they are way ahead of where the shuttle was in reuse.

Assange reverse-ferrets on promise to fly to US post-Manning clemency

What Was Really Offered?

It seems like an offer without substance to me. How would Assange get to the US without being nabbed for jumping bail? And once in the hands of the UK again, why wouldn't the UK extradite him to Sweden? And, finally, the US has not asked for Assange's extradition. So what was he going to do, stand on the steps of the Department of Justice and look like a stupid tourist?

Tobacco giant predicts the end of smoking. Panic ensues

I find there are often two types of activists:

The first are the crusaders. Their existence is defined by the "devil" they attack. If the devil goes away, so does their purpose.

The second are those with material (i.e., money) interests. In many areas, cigarettes (and alcohol, and...) are taxed to treat the health issues caused by the offending substance. If people quit, then the tax revenue dries up and they lose their jobs (and careers).

So, yes, when their bluff is called, don't expect universal joy.

Silicon Valley's oligarchs got a punch in the head – and that's actually good thing

What Slicon Valley Has to Offer Trump

Silicon Valley is really in the hole with Trump. For the electoral college delegates, California is a winner-take-all state. Since California is also very much a Democrat Blue state, the Trump basically ignored the state since he had no chance to win anything. Since many of the Silicon Valley big wigs were very pro-Clinton, there is now absolutely nothing they have to offer Trump. They didn't support him in the vote, and can't deliver any meaningful support in the next election. I seriously doubt that Trump will ever lift a finger to do anything for Silicon Valley in particular, and California in general.

Microsoft: Why we tore handy Store block out of Windows 10 Pro PCs

Re: Hey Microsoft, keep up the good work!

I wonder if we can start a class action lawsuit against Microsoft for intentionally infecting our computers with their malware?

FBI boss: We paid at least $1.2m to crack the San Bernardino iPhone

No, we paid the Department of Justice lawyers $1.1m to sue Apple. Then $100 to hack the phone. The rest went for donuts and t-shirts.

This headline will, in part, cost pepper-spraying University of California, Davis $175k

The University of California and California State University campuses are state universities. The campus police are officially California State police and are not private. Makes me wonder if any law suits are naming the university or the state as defendant. But then again, the state is about as financially broke as the university, so maybe it makes no difference.