Posts by EricB123

Space mining startup prepping to launch 'demo' refinery... this April

Re: How does this work?

"Maybe a nuclear reactor (not RTGs) might do the job, but launching one of those is going to raise all sorts of hackles."

Maybe not for China?

Bill shock? The red ink of web services doesn’t come out of the blue

Are you feeling lucky, punk?

Wow. Dirty Harry meets El Reg!

Google Cloud (over)Run: How a free trial experiment ended with a $72,000 bill overnight

It could happen to anyone

I had a free account, and hitting the wrong key generated a $120 bill overnight.

Actually, Google let it pass with a short phone call. But that was long ago, maybe different now?

I was reasonable to ask to WFH in early days of COVID, says fired engineer

Re: Massachusetts in the early days of COVID

What kind of human would downvote this post? Somebody who wants to make America great again?

Twitter starts auction to flip the bird, furniture, pizza ovens, gadgets galore

Gimme that!

I'll take the system 360 phioto from your estate when you depart, if you don't mind

Nice smart device – how long does it get software updates?

Re: Nobody

Whatever happened to the old-fashioned watching the clothes go round at the laundromat?

Intel offers desktop chip that can hit 6GHz if everything goes right, you can keep it cool, stars align, pigs fly

It Computes OK.

...And doubles as a toaster.

CES Worst in Show slams gummi gouging, money-wasting mugs, and other dubious kit

Re: A gummy printer?

Egg McMuffin for breakfast and a Happy Meal for dinner. That seems like a healthy kid's diet to me.

Inventor of the graphite anode – key Li-ion battery tech – says he can now charge an electric car in 10 minutes

Re: Fast charge is a niche for people on long trips

Hmmm... I'm starting to get the idea.

Rivian abandons electric van partnership with Mercedes-Benz

RIP

Not Rivian, Janis Joplin!

I'm referring to the sub headline in case you're confused.

TSA to expand facial recognition across America

Re: CAT-2

whats wrong with 20mA current loop?

Musk's Hotel California erected at Twitter HQ, as some offices converted into bedrooms

Re: Office as housing?

A single family house, complete with a small lawn and a lawnmower in the middle of SF's tech district would be nice.

Elon Musk to abused Twitter users: Your tormentors are coming back

Re: And to think that 30 years ago...

This entire discussion is so stupid!

Someone has to say it: Voice assistants are not doing it for big tech

I love happy endings

A grand day indeed. People voting agsinst distopian gadgets with their wallets.

Intel makes it harder for Gelsinger to earn beaucoup bucks as CEO

Re: Oh noes

My dog eats when he is hungry. No cash incenative needed.

What's that, Lassie? Boston Dynamics is suing its robot dog tech rival?

Simplify

Why not just patent a dog and be done with it?

Waymo turns its driverless cars into roving weather stations

Re: I don't understand

Dull thud, pedestrian struck. Sharp metallic sound, car/ motorcycle crash. So what's the problem?

Shocker: EV charging infrastructure is seriously insecure

Re: The American EV charging infrastructure is seriously BROKEN

You are definitely American, distinguishable be you colorful language. Don't confuse that statement for not agreeing with you 100 percent though.

Twitter, Musk, and a week of bad decisions

Re: So reassuring

So the 2 downvotes so far are Elon and his lawyer I guess?

Kyndryl loses $281m in the quarter as modernization agenda continues

Re: Think of the Money We'll Save...

I had a cough the other day and bought a bottle of Kyndryl cough mixture. Stopped the cough instantly. Good stuff.

HPE supercomputer to tell Singapore that it's hot, humid, probably going to rain

I Don't Think So

I usually enjoy the wisecrack subheading for El Reg articles. But not this time.

"HPE supercomputer to tell Singapore that it's hot, humid, probably going to rain".

As an American expat who lives in SE Asia, I can tell you the storm reporting, say typhoons and cyclones is second-rate at best to the quality of storm reporting back in the West. And many of these people are poor, with no means to quickly get to higher ground. Better reporting for SE Asia would undoubtedly save lives. Just thought I'd educate you a bit.

Tesla reportedly faces criminal probe into self-driving hype

Please Simplify all the Levels Crap

To me, there are only two methods of automated driving. Say lane change and anti-tailgating assistance, and FULL AUTOMONOUS DRIVING. By the time an unattended driver is alerted something is wrong to the reaction time for the driver to take command a crash happens.

The consumer is obviously confused by all this, and the auto companies (and without a doubt some politicians) are taking advantage of all of this..

Intel's 13th-gen CPUs are hot, hungry, loaded with cores

Re: Seems an odd choice for 2022

Wanna see my V10 jacked-up pickup truck in the driveway?

Google Japan goes rogue with 5.4ft long keyboard

Super Toothbrush

Back in the 90's, I was walking around Tokyo on my day off. I purchased a most magnificent toothbrush with bristles 180 degrees apart. I could brush the bottoms of both my top and bottom molars in ten seconds flat. Didn't seem to help with dental hygiene anywhere else though.

City isn't keen on 5,000 erratic, traffic-jam-causing GM robo-cars on its streets

Re: why can't it call home and then [whatever]

You stole my thunder,damn it! Why should an American corporation pay when lives are at stake?

Re: Isn't it their own damn fault

" If there has to be a safety driver, it would be better to just have them driving the car in the first place.'

This is easily the best post of the year! Snd no, I'm not responsible for the single downvote on this one.

Re: cheaper (and better?)

That stupid single downvote once again!

Re: Cruise control?

Dang, every time a controversial topic involving an American tech business comes up there is always a single downvote registered

I don't think this is a coindence.

DXC Technology linked with private equity takeover talks

Re: PE and employees

Private equity firms should be limited to fast food restaurants and the like. Their mantra for fast profits over long term growth have totally trashed America's competitiveness in any science related field.

CHIPS? Largely a waste of government money. Most of the chip shortages the media reports ad naeusam are for cutting edge technology chips. Cars and most anything else from washing machines to toasters are short on far more mundane chips, programs which private equity firms might scrap due to relatively low returns on investiments.

USA adds two more Chinese carriers to 'probably a national security threat' list

Re: Time to ratchet it back

Amen.

NASA just weeks away from trying again with SLS Moon rocket launch

Whoa!

"NASA has sought a waiver from Space Force..."

How did the Space Force make it into this story? Are they the new space police?

FCC floats 'five-year rule' for hoovering up space junk

Re: Irresponsible satellite operators?

Probably the same chain of events that got our oceans chock full of single use plastics.

Trump and Biden agree on something – changing Section 230

Same old, same old

"offering children even more privacy protection and safety than whatever privacy adults are afforded"

0 to the 100th power is still nothing

Ad blockers struggle under Chrome's new rules

A Modest Proposal

I say screw Google! Is sticking with their Chromium engine really that much of a cost and development time saver? It seems to me using Google API's is like counting cards in blackjack with the dealer using a 6 deck shoe. The damn thing is constantly changing at every whim.

I like Brave, but if I notice this privacy thing starts going downhill after the new Chromium comes on-line I will switch to a Mozilla based browser. Problem solved.

Google CEO Pichai: We need to up productivity by a fifth

Re: Depressing

In America 1200 pounds would not be enough to fund the admissions process for a single cancer patient.

Re: Just wanted to say great useful idea your incentivization scheme

Thanks for actually coding the HTML for the Dilbert link.

A rather nice touch to the post.

Your job was probably outsourced for exactly the reason you suspected

Re: And yet

Well, my toaster uses outsourced code and it works just fine. Makes great toast.

I see no reason why that can't be upscaled just a little bit to code a jet airliner.

No, Apple, you may not sell iPhones without chargers

Well duh!

I've got an idea. Made the phone repairable (for less then the cost of a new one, hopefully). THAT would greatly reduce waste, while the new phone could include a modern, higher wattage charger that the newer phones require.

Microsoft: The deadline to get off Basic Auth is approaching

Re: So does this mean Everyone now has to use 2FA?

Are you REALLY asking for a "lazy friend"?

Inflation to kill growth prospects for smartphone sales

Thanks

You forgot to mention that you are helping to reduce waste as well.

Re: 5G made everyone refresh already

I believe 5G needs 4G to operate. Somebody really really screwed up on this one.

Re: G5 Is Commercial Dud - It's Being Simply Planned Obsolescence

I couldn't agree more. Besides many "5G" areas are nothing but 4G with a shell over it, 5G uses more power forcing a bigger, heavier, more expensive battery. So I am apparently not the only one perfectly satisfied with a 4G phone.

Time to enjoy a movie on my 3D TV.

Off Again

"The events of the last twelve months have shaved 150 million units off the market for 2022 from our forecast in the second quarter of 2021," she added."

At least she admitted that her company's "forecasts" were way off the mark.

Lenovo’s folding portable ThinkPad grows to 16.3in, adds keyboard

Re: M1

"In case of Intel it's heat generation and waste of energy. In the current climate crisis Intel should be banned from selling CPUs so inefficient."

I am beginning to think El Reg forums need a Bozo filter.

California asks people not to charge EVs during heatwave

Re: Does this apply to everyone?

Why the downvotes? An excellent idea and a great way to add additional carbon to the atmosphere.

FCC awards $800m for rural broadband development

USA! USA! USA!

I just don't understand how the USA keeps showing mediocre ratings on roads and bridges, Telco services, whatever.

Besides being #1 in total debt owed to everyone (yes, Japan is supposedly #1 of debt to GNP but I'm referring to total amount), exactly what is the USA #1 in?

Here's how 5 mobile banking apps put 300,000 users' digital fingerprints at risk

Re: The other 2%

Only one downvote so far. Mr. Tim Cook again, I presume?

HP's consumer PC biz shrinks by a fifth as inflation bites

I want to become am engineer now more than ever!!!

News stories like this will definitely cause more kids to take up engineering as a career!

China's Chongqing manufacturing hub extends factory power cuts indefinitely

Re: Unprecedented Heatwave

yeah... My V8 pickup's aircon works just fine! Not a worry in the world.

Pakistan? What's a "Pakistan"?