* Posts by Chris G

6754 publicly visible posts • joined 18 Oct 2007

SpaceX cargo ship splashes down off Florida with science in tow – but what we want to know is how space wine tastes

Chris G

Vinum, vidi, bibi

Great news for SpaceX to get their capsule back and even greater news that wine is considered important enough to research vines in space.

Also good news on testing the Starship engines successfully.

If my latin is rubbish blame Google.

What’s that in CES heaven, is it a star? Or is it that damned elusive flying car?

Chris G

Re: Barkeep, pour me a..... wow that was exactly what I wanted!

There are one or two folks that I know who would be divined as requiring a gallon of creme de menthe followed rapidly by a wheel barrow and a robot to push it.

Also are they going to produce a ro-barkeep who is a good listener, can nod at the right moments and look okay in a low cut top?

Chris G

"if at all"

I'll stick my neck out and say that personal flying cars will never happen within the forseeable future. The changes necessary in city and town centres are too big to warrant the effort with regard to the potential advantages.

Though, with the advent of the virally imposed 'New Normal ™' rearing it's ugly head, there may be scope for gradual restructuring and change in how cities and towns are built.

Chris G

Re: Johnny Cab

Would that be with ribbed seats?

Boss behind 'reset' of delayed, overbudget Emergency Services Network shifts to new 'digital' Cabinet Office role

Chris G

Re: I can picture the scene...

If the quality of failure is measured in millions lost, these people are incredibly successful and at the top of their field.

The CIA's 'entire' collection of UFO records has been made available for you to sigh at

Chris G

Some years back, having missed my flight ( in a conventional airliner) I ended up with about twelve hours to sit around before the next connection, so I had a look for something to read. I ended up buying a book of tales from alleged abductees, not one of whom could produce a reasonable account of what happened to them that made any sense at all.

I am fairly certain the vast majority of them were attention seekers and one or two of them were genuinely ill and in need of therapy of some description.

I wish I could remember the title but is was a dozen years ago and I left the book on the seat when my flight was called.

I think life of some kind is highly likely somewhere out there but any life form that is advanced enough to have a practical form of interstellar transport will almost certainly not need to creep around the skies of Earth flashing lights and pissing off jet pilots.

As for the 'We are not ready for them' meme, a good percentage of humanity is still unprepared for walking upright.

Chris G
Alien

UFOs are not the problem

It's all the Identified ones the aliens are fliiting around in that I want to know about.

UK network Three hikes pay-as-you-go rates by 400% to push punters to buy 'bundles'

Chris G

Re: How do they justify the costs of SMS?

Competition?

Ah that's that thing that happens in industries where industry members don't chat about pricing in the pub after a hard day at a convention.

Backers of Planet Computers' Astro Slide 5G phone furious after shock specs downgrade

Chris G

Aside from the actual issues with kit, the company name of Planet Computers combined with Dr Janko Mrsic-Flogel the boss's name sounds like something out of the old Astounding Tales Sci-fi anthologies from the fifties.

Study: AI designed to detect diabetic eye disease blinks in the real world, makes more work for doctors

Chris G

The AIs have it (or not)

What I get from the makers responses, is that for their systems to function well, depends on humans trained to use the correct type of camera, to also be trained well enough to submit the right kind of photo so the AI is not really achieving the aim of simplifying, speeding up and making the process more efficient.

I would argue that new AI diagnostic aids should have comparable testing and approval as that applied to drugs

Faster optic fibers and superior laser sensors set to descend from space

Chris G

Quite a few of the old soviet era lenses I use have lanthanum in the mix, aside from the fact that occasionally they can yellow, they give fantastic crystal clear results. I have an old Mir lens that I would not part with at any price.

Two wrongs don't make a right: They make a successful project sign-off

Chris G

@Terry 6

If it is an English disease they have definitely exported it to Spain, I have seen all kinds of equipment patched with chewing gum, string or anything else that was handy just to keep it going that little bit longer.

A carpentry company I worked with had a huge bandsaw I was convinced originally had a steam engine powering it. The boss Pepe, was in the market for a new one but explained he wanted to sell the old one first. The price he was asking was about two thirds the price of a shiny new one with lower running costs, more functions etc, he had had the price on the old one for several years and preferred to patch it up rather than drop the price, buy a new one and increase productivity.

Chris G

Verbal heiroglyphics

I once had a report land on my desk refarding an important piece of machinery, ' extreme flange pressure on the cremknacker coils was causing void spring failure'.

I knew it was BS, because we had stopped using cremknacker coils years before, we had replaced them all with toe joint spirals.

Though I liked the H.G.Wells mural, Darwin did live in the bourough at Downe House, Downe village. I used to rent a part of Downe Bank as horse pasture, one of the places that helped to inspire Darwin's theory due to some of the plants there being unique to that spot. IIRC one of the plants was a tiny orchid.

US courts system fears SolarWinds snafu could have let state hackers poke about in sealed case documents

Chris G

Re: Pre-SolarWinds....just ask Ciaran Martin.........

"And how else are we to protect against a Belgian global empire of evil ?"

Er... don't buy their chocolate and hope they go bust?

Boeing will cough up $2.5bn+ to settle US fraud charge over 737 Max safety

Chris G

Did no one notice

That effectively Boeing has put tg blame on to two pilots who failed to reportcertain things to the FAA?

As usual, buck passing the blame to minions and neglecting to mention who instructed the minions is common place now. What would you call it, the Volkswagen gambit? Althoughthe gambit is far older than that.

Allowing Boeing to buy off the issue sets a precedent for them that they are too big to fail and that they can throw money at failures to avoid genuine punishment for transgressions.

Money they are almost guaranteed to recover in government contracts that help them to keep America ahead in commercial and other aviation.

Ah, right on time: Hacker-slammed SolarWinds sued by angry shareholders

Chris G

In their defence

They could always try quoting this; https://off-guardian.org/2021/01/04/the-russian-hacking-nato-psyop-has-finally-been-solved/

But I am not too sure it would do them any good.

Come, chant with us over a sacrificial goat and predict 2021's biggest tech stories to a high degree of accuracy

Chris G

If Google

Truly shut down, then Faecebook would expand exponentially into a slime breathing, IQ sucking behemoth that will try to take over every aspect of people's lives, nuke it from space now!

Lay down your souls to the gods of rock 'n' roll: Conspiracy theorists' 5G 'vaccine' chip schematic is actually for a guitar pedal

Chris G

That must be

One helluva needle to get a foot pedal into your arm. I bet it's a painful shot too.

The most useful effect would be a mute button for a fair percentage of the population.

Welcome to the splinternet – where freedom of expression is suppressed and repressed, and Big Brother is watching

Chris G

Re: what if the net stopped being one big, connected thing?

And just to be clear; everything the big corporations learn from spying on you is available to governments. Effectively, in the lands of the free, people will be equally as traceable as in any so called repressive lands, it's roses all the way down.

Considering the WEC and a number of National banks are in favour of totally digital economies, the scope for anonymity will likely disappear.

File format conversion crisis delayed attempt to challenge US presidential election result

Chris G

Re: Google Docs?

I suspect the legal team was appointed by the orange brat and that they are still using Vtech toys for the most part.

New York Stock Exchange bins China’s three biggest telcos

Chris G

Re: Its not a US-China Trade War

I doubt that much that has been done by Trump will be undone by Biden, although that may depend on which billionare's lobbyists get to him first with the requisite encouragement.

I do think Biden leans more toward an anti-Russia stance than an anti-China stance so his actions may in the future focus less on China.

Looking at Biden's appointments so far I suspect he is likely to more or less pick up where Obama left off, with just enough differences to add his personal 'flavour' to proceedings.

Realme 7 5G: Parents, this is the phone you should have got your kids for Christmas

Chris G

Re: Wireless Charging is a real deal breaker for me

I have got an Armor 2 I bought 4 years ago specifically because it was tough and had a for then huge battery. I have used it constantly since then with zero problems, no wireless charging but it had NFC, OTG, a decent 13MP main camera and huge RAM. Price? €189.00, recently I have notice the charge is running down a little faster but still get a full day's use out of a charge. It is such a good phone in general that I may get a battery and swap kit from AliExpress rather than hunt for a new model with comparable reviews.

As far as the article went, I think phone reviews have more value when written by the average Joe who knows enough but is not a nerd who isonly looking for technical excellence, that way you get a somewhat more real world impression of the kit.

What can the 1944 OSS manual teach us before we all return to sabotage the office?

Chris G

Re: That list!

That list, sounds very much as though it is a fundamental part of both MBA syllabuses (syllabii?) and civil service promotion exams.

For anyone who would like to be part of a list, I have a copy of the Anarchists Cookbook that I can lend you, that I have had since the seventies when I was a keen squaddie.

Watt's next for batteries? It'll be more of the same, not longer life, because physics and chemistry are hard

Chris G

Re: Gurgling Cheese!

@Brainwrong

Not reading the article and relying on comments for your critique is limiting to accuracy.

The article refers to expendable batteries as little metal cylinders with acid in them.

As Uncle Sam continues to clamp down on Big Tech, Apple pelted with more and more complaints from third-party App Store devs

Chris G

Re: Its about the money

Rather than the symbiotic relationship one might hope for, reality is closer to having a giant pet leech, sucking your life blood at every opportunity.

The other internet giants are just the same.

I wonder what disaster plans they all have in place to maintain control in the event of anti-trust actions being successful?

Yes, Microsoft Access was a recalcitrant beast, but the first step is to turn the computer on

Chris G

Re: I'd be shocked if ...

I bet the list of stories relating to lack of angry pixies, fuel, uncharged batteries etc, if printed in one go, would break the interthingy.

Roma, we've had un problema: When every flight's final destination is a date with Windows Boot Manager

Chris G

Re: "I started drinking"®

I generally only use one eye to inspect the contents of a bottle should I wish to check before upending it.

However, I do keep both eyes open when using a rifle scope (only one looking through the scope though).

Chris G

"I started drinking"®

At least with a drink, eventually you can see light at the end of the bottle (depending on the choice of beverage of course).

BOFH: Time for the MMOCC. You know, the Massively Moronic Online Christmas Call

Chris G

Re: "Everyone needs a cattle prod at Christmastime."

Well, at least a buzz of some sort.

BOFH on Crimble day? much better than my neighbour's roast turkey.

Happy winter solstice to all at and reading El Reg.

My website has raised its anchor and set sail into the internet oceans without me

Chris G

Nether web

There must be a special place out there in the ether that is full of dead, dying or zombie websites. Their words and content fading but struggling to be accessed by anybody just to maintain a semblance of existence.

A bit like me really! After crimble lunch and a couple of buckets of home made wine, a load of truly ancient Spanish films on the telly and the missus snoring or chatting to her family in Russia.

Re Autosave is for wimps; double entendre T shirts or mugs might pay, I would certainly consider the right bit of doublation.

US Department of Homeland Security warns American business not to use Chinese tech or let data behind the Great Firewall

Chris G

Re: What's yours is ours

"privacy laws"

In theory, yes but if you look at for example, Pompeo's comments and voting history in Congress regarding privacy and surveillance, it is clear that even in the West and the 'Land of the free™', our so called leaders don't trust us with our own thoughts.

Chris G

What's yours is ours

And we don't want to share it with China or anyone else.

Elon Musk says he tried to sell Tesla to Apple, which didn’t bite and wouldn't even meet

Chris G

Re: Apple Car

@Mage

QUIET! Don't encourage them.

Although it's probably all (and more) on a list somewhere in the design department.

Chris G

If Apple go into the car biz, I dread to think of the price and maintenance lock in that will go with it.

Apple workshops, PFY mechanics and less ability to self maintain than a John Deere tractor.

Windows might have frozen – but at least my feet are toasty

Chris G

Re: xorg.conf

"Nowadays, you just cable shit up and turn it on, and it just works."

Until it doesn't!

Chris G

Re: Only once

It kept freezing on you so you made sure it stayed cool.

Isn't the English language odd?

Chris G

Manglement

It never ceases to amaze me, the things they manage to think of, or perhaps thought is not actually involved.

At one job, I had a brilliant suggestion from the senior manager that we should replace all of our machinery every 18 months (the standard warranty period for our commercial kit at the time), his reasoning being we could halve the maintenance engineer staff and just claim warrnty.

I suggested he should go and read any random Ts&Cs for an item of kit. The company was a grounds maintenance contractor and he genuinely thought that a warranty would be paid if one of the guys drove over a piece of kit with a tractor.

In his defence, he had an MBA and had been a local council technical officer, so had no experience of proper work.

NHS awards £23m two-year deal to controversial Peter Thiel AI firm Palantir

Chris G

NHS & Trust

"include the steps which need to be taken to cease processing and to either destroy or return data to NHS England and NHS Improvement "

Of course all of the data will have been copied to US servers that will have back ups all the way down.

I am still of the opinion that the NHS and the health of Britons is such a valuable commodity that it is likely to be sold before Boris finishes his term.

And you thought that $999 Mac stand was dear: Steve Wozniak's Apple II doodles fetch $630,272 at auction

Chris G

Re: Interesting comment...the lawyers will love this

"(even Tim Cook hasn’t got the chutzpah to charge HP prices)"

No, HPW Apple ink will have rounded corners, have to be installed by a 'Genius' and will cost about the same as a set of wheels.

Chris G

Re: Amazing

I have some sketches somewhere for an improved mousetrap as well as plans for a rounder wheel.

Anyone interested?

You can be my wingbot any time – US military successfully runs AI system on spy plane

Chris G

Re: Gastronomy Flagship Project

Ah, Nouvelle cuisine! That's where they don't like too much food getting in the way of a nice design.

Chris G

Re: If you go down to the woods today

And to go with the butterfly net, a heavy club plus a Remington 870 with mag extension and plenty of SSG.

Harrassed kitchen assistants and commi chefs are often the people who become great chefs, kitchens don't need no stinkin' bots.

"Waiter! There's a bolt in my soup........."

Let the chips fall where they may: US Commerce dept whacks Middle Kingdom firm SMIC on naughty list

Chris G

Obama was upset with China in 2012 over then restricting RE sales, forcing prices up and potentially availability down. A couple of years later a resolution was made to make the US self sufficient, that position is still at least two years away.

Even those REs that are produced in the States at the moment have to go to China to be refined.

https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2020/11/20/mining-company-determined-to-restore-us-rare-earth-supply-chain

You have mining production gear mothballed but not refining equipment for product to market.

Chris G

I suspect that China is waiting to see what Biden will have to say, if he continues the current trend then expect China to rein in on trade, probably starting with rare earths, or at least a threat to do so.

Atlantic City auctions off chance to hit Big Red Button and make grotesque Trump Plaza casino go boom

Chris G

Hey!

"Anyone speak Korean? There's a guy here I think wants to bid on pressing the button."

Just let this sink in: Capita wins 12-year £1bn contract to provide training services to the Royal Navy and Marines

Chris G

Maybe it will work

After all, Crapita's tactics seem to work for them; Procrastinate, perform poorly, never deliver anything promised and fail to make a profit, that seems to result in the UK Gov' and others taking pity on them and continuing to offer them contracts where they will maintain their previous standards.

Perhaps they will train the Marines to land on the wrong beach with half their weapons missing and then mill around like headless chickens, after the enemy have finished laughing themselves to death, the Marines can then walk in and take over.

Crapita reinforcing it's capabilities with the likes of Fujitsu and Raytheon does not bode well.

Cats: Not a fan favourite when the critters are draped around an office packed with tech

Chris G

Re: Not Just IT...

That wa a sign that Suzy really liked you, an offer from a cat to share breakfat is an honour indeed.

Chris G

Re: Pugs, golden retrievers and IT equipment do not mix

I was given Vyleda ( I think) robovac, my two cats tried batting it and biting it with unsatisfactory results so unless it was heading directly for their spot in the sun they ignored it.

However, it had been infected on the productiin line with an evil gremlin, if I ever entered the room it was in and not looking for it, it would steer straight under my feet.

I finally exorcised it one day with a large hiking boot, frankly, I prefer a broom or traditional vac.

Dodgy procedures doomed Arianespace's Vega before it even left the launchpad

Chris G

Re: Are they really saying there were no design issues?

"The integration procedure was "misleading" and the resulting incorrect routing and connection of the control lanes was not picked up in testing."

That says it is a design issue, in the actual design as well as the testing process.

This product is terrible. Can you deliver it in 20 years’ time when it becomes popular?

Chris G

"So Eddie is a secret spy for Google?"

And he's got vagaries?

A two week course of penisillin should fix that.