* Posts by Chris G

6754 publicly visible posts • joined 18 Oct 2007

Through the Looking Glass – holographic display hardware is great, but it's not enough

Chris G

I think the search for depth of field to create a three dimensional impression is ultimately something that won't get the uptake that researchers think it will, because it is just that, an impression, a cheat.

Also, because visual and auditory processing cue each other to some degree, visually 3 dimensional reproduction needs to work hand in hand with the audio.

Until 3D is actually an object I can walk around it will remain a gimmick for me.

Chocgate: The fallout. Partially taxpayer-funded £6k+ staff luxury treats land ICO in lukewarm water

Chris G

Demonstrating to tge staff that they are appreciated, probably pays dividends that are worth more than the 6K that the choccies cost.

Spending a little of tax payers cash for Christmas is not remotely like flogging off bits of the NHS or giving multimillion pound contracts to mates who have no history with or knowledge of the purpose of the contract.

Take a look, and you'll see... Windows XP? Bit of Dairy Milk, Fruit and Bork at Cadbury World

Chris G

Cadbury's Borkville Chocolate

Choc full od borkness!

Amazon delivery staff 'denied bonus' pay by AI cameras misjudging their driving

Chris G

Re: Salesmen

I think Bozos already has the evil mind, Amazon couldn't be as bad as it is with employees if the culture wasn't okay with the C suite.

Denying bonuses helps to maximise profit and every cent helps.

Yet another Big Tech exec heads to central government: This time IBMer Dan Bailey in 6-month stint

Chris G

I bet when Margaret Thatcher got the privatisation ball rolling, she hadn't thought of privatising central govrrnment.

Bit then again....

Want to feel old? Aussie cyclist draws Nirvana baby in Strava on streets of Adelaide because Nevermind is 30

Chris G

I am more bothered by the fact it is an unotified link to Instagram, a child of Feacebook.

Links ought to come with a health warning.

Airbus to help build Mexican Moon-mining automata

Chris G

Ariane were planning a public/private jaunt to the moon to arrive some time in 2023 so perhaps this is a part of that plan.

EurekAI... Neural network leads chemists to discover 'four new materials'

Chris G

Re: Back when..

I had a similar conversation with the head of science at my school in the sixties after reading something in New Scientist.

I guess the idea needed some refining.

Scientists took cues from helicopter seeds to invent tiny microchips that float on wind

Chris G

Re: Bowl of petunias

" sell them cleanup services later on"

Yeah, look at the amazing clean up of the effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam, NATO bombs and mines in the former Yugoslavia and the billions of dollars worth of deliberately fucked up equipment in Afghanistan.

Fukushima studies show wildlife is doing nicely without humans, thank you very much

Chris G

Re: "coastal areas and rice paddies in Fukushima (...) where many rare creatures live"

"Like the two-headed calf, the three-eyed fish and the four-legged chicken (besides the mentioned, probably fluorescent, nuclear pig-boar)?"

So that's what they mean by biodiversity.

I wonder if the Razor toothed hogs turn green if you make them angry?

Though the only thing that really bothers me, is the man eating rice grass.

Doesn't he knoe how to thresh it and cook the seeds?

BOFH: You'll find there's a company asset tag right here, underneath the monstrously heavy arcade machine

Chris G

Re: Personal heaters

The 'Double plug' manoeuvre is the standard method here to get power into a house from a generator if the solar or the mains fail. Solar power systems have the ability to input external power built into them but somehow that bit is skipped in favour of deadly lash ups.

I have seen a couple of boat owners do it too.

Japanese boffins say they've created plastic optical fibres to reach places that might break glass

Chris G

Re: Why?

Also, using more plastic in an application such as vehicles that are relatively shortlived is another addition to the list of difficult or impossible to recycle materials that end up in the environment.

The amount of non renewable materials and unnecessary electronics that goes into vehicles now is absurd.

Boston Dynamics' Spot robot embarks on its latest thrilling adventure: Insurance!

Chris G

Working in a post disaster scenario may require better than IP54 described as 'rain proof' in the video but more like rain resistant.

Why do so many articles here and in other journals continue to bandy the Three Laws constantly when there are no autonomous robots around and even less robots that could be considered self aware or sentient?

Even in the I Robot series Asimov constantly questioned the laws and used them more as a literary device than asserting they could be genuinely useful. Hint, they're not.

UK Ministry of Defence apologises – again – after another major email blunder in Afghanistan

Chris G

This kind of so called accidental breach seems to happen so frequently one could get the impression it is willful.

Perhaps the perpetrators of these mistake could be sent oversee something in Afghanistan?

Such as cleaning Taliban toilets.

If you're Intel, self-driving cars look an awful lot like PCs

Chris G

I assume the added value will have nothing to do with safety and function regarding traffic and driving laws and regulations.

There needs to be a thorough and well regulated set of standards that will apply to all self driving/autonomous vehicles, any superfluous bits beyond those will be for the status driven.

Angry birds ground some Google Wing drones in Australia

Chris G
Trollface

Re: worse than that

Thank the FSM and his Noodly Appendages it wasn't a decent cup of tea at risk.

Chris G
Coat

Re: Corvids vs drones

Clearly, the bird was raven mad at having something fly into its territory.

Hellfire and damnation: Two French monks charged over 5G mast arson attack

Chris G

Re: No Sheep were harmed

"set fire to sheep"

Got any mint sauce?

Thatcher-era ICL mainframe fingered for failure to pay out over £1bn in UK pensions

Chris G

Re: Fujitsu -- what else have they done?

Black belt holders in the art of Feck Up jitsu.

As. Pensioner, I am filled with confidence knowing they are on the job.

UK's Civil Aviation Authority hashing out rules for crash-proof cargo pods on drones

Chris G

Re: Is there something I need to know about cosmetics?

When you look at the price of a few grams of snail slime, wrapped in a fancy container with a load of pseudo-scientific bullshit on it and a price anywhere up to several hundred pounds, a drone container full is probably worth more than a replacement kidney.

Of course if you are in need of at least one kidney, they are priceless but I suspect you get my point.

Chris G

Mid flight failure

Aside from ensuring the integrity of the containerised cargo, I would like to see the levels of redundancy in commercial drones addressed to minimise to likelyhood of a midflight failure.

If that means the drones would be more expensive and energy imtense, affecting the profitability of their use, then the technology is not yet advanced enough to use them in this way.

I have been watching some of the footage taken with drones of the Geldingadalur eruption in Iceland, they are a game changer in photography and the recording of historical events. Even to the point of the 'amateur' footage being good enough and of sufficient quantity to have scientific value.

I don't see the current quad copter type drones as an everyday delivery vehicle for smallish packages though, for emergency medical makes sense but for pizzas or Amazon not so much.

Navigating without GPS is one thing – so let's jam it and see what happens to our warship

Chris G

Re: I guess I'm too much of a navigation geek...

I have no problems when out in the woods or any countryside but get lost in cities with high buildings and narrow streets, that is where I find the ball compass on my backpack straps, invaluable.

Otherwise I prettymuch always know where North is, sitting with friends drinking at the weekend, one chap (a biker) pointed vaguely in the direction of Valencia.

I pointed out he was nearly 30° off to the south, a discussion followed with proof of my point provided by smart phone gps.

My brother used to sail a lot, got hit by a squall out of site of Northern Brazil in the early daysof GPS, the squall had damaged the antenna by dumping a few tons of water on it so he just used his compass an ancient plastic sextant and a radio time signal.

US Congress ponders setting up permanent UFO investigation office

Chris G

Re: Are artilects alien beings or human constructs ‽ . And are they friendlies or hostiles ‽ .

It should be remembered that the drive behind any lifeform moving into new unexplored territory is the search for new resources that can enable its continued survival, that is also the source of curiousity. That includes everything from slimemoulds up.

Always bear in mind the worst that can happen while looking for the best and most benign.

Japan, Singapore, perhaps the whole world.... Get ready for robot waiters from Softbank and Keenon

Chris G

Re: thus freeing up staff to focus on customer service

The biggest advantage to employers, is that they can switch robots on and off as they please.

My wife works in the catering industry here in Spain, from what she tells me, employers treat their staff almost like robots (or peons) already.

Not having to pay employment taxes and have contracts with a robot would appeal to many of them.

As iy is, I am amazed at how good the service usually is from the majority of underpaid, overburdened staff.

Mafia works remotely, too, it seems: 100+ people suspected of phishing, SIM swapping, email fraud cuffed

Chris G

Re: SIM swapping attacks

My Spanish bank has insisted that for all online purchases, an app must be installed and purchases authorised by an SMS token.

I was less than impressed by their IT skills after trying to install the app for over three weeks, it would show the entry page and freeze.

In the end my local branch got it to load by talking to their IT hell desk while it loaded.

The bank has also sent sensitive info in plain text via email on more than one occasion and does not respond to suggestions.

Macmillan best-biscuit list unexpectedly promotes breakfast cereal to treat status

Chris G

Re: I am offended

I too am deeply offended by the relegation of the ginger nut an essential adjunct to both tea and coffee.

Shortcake fingers also play an important part in the enjoyment of a cuppa.

Regarding the 'biscuit' status of Weetabix, it does comply in terms of construction and shape, take a look at a carpenter's biscuit jointer for example. However, as a dunkable accompaniment to tea or coffee, it fails abysmally.

On a slight side note: should you ever find yourself stuck with a less than quaffable fed wine, try dunking ginger nuts in it. It works surprisingly well.

Don't forget to leave a rating: Amazon chairman meeting with UK prime minister to talk taxes

Chris G

Re: he will discuss the “challenges” of taxing giant tech corporations in a digital economy

"be one of them once you're bored with playing at being prime minister."

Discussions about UK taxation followed by discussions about about the future may well be on the agenda.

Electron-to-joule conversion formulae? Cute. Welcome to the school of hard knocks

Chris G

Re: "a multitude of fresh qualifications counted for naught"

The pipe is necessary, they were pumping water up out of a foundation, if the pump failed or ran out of fuel nothi g runs back down the hole.

Considering those pumps could be running a 6" or bigger tube, it would be a pain if the hole fills back up.

That is also why the outlet on a lot of site pumping uses layflat.

How long till some drunkard puts a foot through one of BT's 'iconic, digital smart city communication hubs'?

Chris G

Saturday morning

As I write this.

Is it still there and still functional?

UK funds hydrogen-powered cargo submarine to torpedo maritime emissions by 2050

Chris G

Re: £380K

This is at a very early stage if the first prototype can only carry 5Kg of cargo. At that size, I think they are trying to crack too many eggs, while the idea has some merits, the overall look is just that of a funding grabber.

It will be interesting to see how far the prototype and the company goes.

It's time to delete that hunter2 password from your Microsoft account, says IT giant

Chris G

Looks like one of the developers is reading the comments!

Chris G

The only windows thing that goes through my phone is Outlook and I intend to keep it that way, I also have a minimum of apps and thode I do have only get the permissions that are absolutely necessary.

What permissions does the authentification app want on your phone as a matter of interest?

If this is forced on us, it will be yet another reason to jump ship, why should I need to fire up one device in order to fire up another?

Doesn't sound much like progress to me.

Ex-US intel, military trio were cyber-mercenaries for UAE, say prosecutors

Chris G

Wonderful isn't it?

You can pay for your sins, literally, even though those sins resulted in amongst other things, the torture of individuals.

The scales of justice are more and more balanced with money.

Measuring your carbon footprint? There's no app for that

Chris G

If every government passed laws requiring every manufacturer to calculate and publish a 'carbon value' for every product and that was able to be input to an app, I doubt that many people would bother to do it fully and correctly and that by the time the majority of products finally had their carbon values calculated and published, Boulder Colorado would have a beach.

Apps would only make those that could be bothered with them, feel better that they are doing what they can but it is not an answer.

Possibly the only answer is disaster or totalitarian green government, or, all manufacturers and consumers to care about the environment rather than profits or convenience.

Personally I think disaster is the odds on favourite to cross the finishing line first.

US Air Force puts Godzilla in charge of autonomous warfare effort with Project Kaiju

Chris G

Re: checking calendar

Well, the proposal has got nearly all of the right tech, military and MBA buzzspeak in there and lots of acronyms and initials, it has a top secret classification and names for the individual sub projects that make it difficult for any but an insider to know which bit does what.

A perfect project to run over time, over budget and still underperform without being accountable.

Sounds perfect to me.

Of course it probably won't win a war or stop weddings being bombed but it'll be some income for the old boys.

Boffins say Martian colonists could pee in buckets, give blood if they want shelter

Chris G

Re: Piss-Crete

Or with the reference to Churchill perhaps Winstone?

Technology has the potential to close the education divide. Key word: Potential

Chris G

Quieter kids can speak up in chat,

As someone who was a 'quieter kid' at school, I disagree with this generalisation and think it brings into question other aspects of the argument.

Even today, taking part in an online chat I often don't bother to join in, particularly when comments are coming at a pace as anything I might say goes upscreen rapidly and may well get lost in the noise. That is no different in effect to being a small voice in a classroom, drowned out by those who are louder and/or more confident.

Another example that demonstrates a need for thinking it through more thoroughly, is the statement about having an international chat with his students and those wth poorer English using chat.

The fact that the students are there makes it evident that they have an interest and are engaged in the discourse.

I am sure that technology has a lot to offer education, it would be absurd to think it hasn't but it is not and will not be a full substitute for in person classes with a teacher at the head of the class.

My cousins, three of them, way back were educated by radio, living on a bazillion acre cattle station in the Northern Territory of Oz, the nearest school was a plane flight away or an expedition through the desert.

They struggled to get to uni' but did it because they were motivated and had parents who helped, without that motivation and family support I don't see distance learning working well on a long term basis for many students.

Ghosts in the machine learning pipeline will be impossible to exorcise

Chris G

Re: "You can't copyright, trademark or patent a real-life personality"

Re this title; So far it has not been done, only because a sufficiently powerful and wealthy entity hasn't yet tried.

I can easily imagine a number of egos who are currently and allegedly alive wishing to continue their influence from beyond the veil.

Attaining some kind of legal recognition of their 'personality' in a program would be the beginning, if the program could pass a Turing test, someone, somewhere will try to get it the legal status comparable to a corporation.

Can you imagine Feacbook being run by a Zuckerbot for eternity?

There, is one of the biggest threats to the world from AI, giving it ghost with legal rights.

Off yer bike: Apple warns motorcycles could shake iPhone cameras out of focus forever

Chris G

Re: another excuse

In the late 70s when the Met changed from Triumph to BMWs, a lot of the motorcycle cops complained about the vibration comparef to a Triump.

Apparently they would carry a few spare bulbs for the rear light and number plate light as the vibration kept blowing them.

I had a Meriden US spec at the time so used to get stopped a lot by cops who wanted to reminisce.

Chris G

EIS

I would have thought for something like a smart phone that is handled much more than a conventional camera, electronic image stabilisation would have been the better option, Gopro does it it and look how much abuse they withstand.

Bikes, if you aren't riding them wrong, you are buying them wrong.

Tech widens the educational divide. And I should know – I'm a teacher in a pandemic

Chris G

I was a crap student at school even in a class with a teacher, I despised the notion of spending all day at school and then doing more hours of homework, so, in a situation like the pandemic I would have been out on my bike with a camera.

I imagine that without the discipline of a classroom environment many kids will be less than inspired to work.

With the benefit of hindsight, if it looks as though LFH (learning from home) will continue to be a thing in the future, teachers need specific training to manage it and lesson formats need to be developed to fit online learning.

The bottom line though, is to get kids back into school where discipline, a learning environment, peer pressure, the personal presence of an authority figure all contribute to kifs doing the work.

Big Blue's quantum rainmaker jumps to room-temp diamond quantum accelerator company

Chris G

Re: Timing

Items like quantum computers and fusion power come under something I call the Mañana Principle, if you order something or take your car for repair here in Spain and ask when it will be ready, they always reply 'mañana' (tomorrow), you go back the next day and nothing is ready, the message is again 'mañana'.

I have seen immobile cars moldering in workshops that date back to the 50s, so I know I'm right.

You walk in with a plan. You leave with GPS-tracking Nordic hiking poles. The same old story, eh?

Chris G

Facom is excellent kit, my rolling tool box included up to 1" drive with an extended breaker bar that withstood a sound thrashing with a seven pound deadblow quite regularly.

The box was so heavy I fitted a brake disc to the front axle.

Lately Lidl seems to be going down the ' offer less for more' road, I assume the bean counters and MBAs have got their teeth into them, so offering quality at a moderate price is being replaced with maximising profits by corner cutting.

Lidl also have a poor rep as an employer.

Chris G

Absolutely! The use of 'touched' here is in a similar class as a Brit describing a stark staring mad looney as 'He's a little touched'

Chris G

Re: Bargle nawdle zouss

I can't believe the prices you guys are quoting, that equals about 5 bottles of excellent Spanish wine.

I have no idea how much scotch that will get you here as I don't drink spirits. (Anymore)

On a different note, I approve of reduction in price of the (currently) unfortunately named Corona beer, it seems there are those who link it with the Plague™. It's essential to add that slice of lime though, I had had a bottle turn up at the table in a couple of bars with lemon and had to send it back.

Chris G

Re: Embarrassing Photos

It is almost certain at least one copy of the monkey pic still exists and will inexplicably show up at the most embarrassing moment.

I too hated those bloody photographers monkeys, one on Hastings pier scratched my face and swung on my sister's long blond hair.

That was in the fifties and I still dislike them!

Chris G

But that particular bargain has presented you with the oppurtunity to learn, just as those sets of specialist screwdrivers create oppurtunities to dismantle equipment that previously would never have been touched.

WhatsApp to offer end-to-end encrypted backups in iCloud, Google Drive with user-managed keys

Chris G

Cast iron security

Is not sending reams of vapid massages in the first place.

I also regularly delete old messages from my messaging app for both me and the recipient.

DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber Eats sue NYC for trying to permanently cap delivery fees

Chris G

Re: Increase delivery prices for customers!

The delivery companies are already gouging as much as they can, if they charge too much to either the customers or the restaurants they will damage thier own business by putting people off.

The bottom line is greed and a cap makes them feel that someone is limiting that greed.

Also the three working together in the courts has the odour of a cartel.

Spot the dog? No, we couldn't either because Spot is a robot employed by United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

Chris G

Re: At yd...

Ah! You mean the fungoids from the dirty plates?

Can rapidly grow intelligent tendrils like a slime mold that implants spores to control the host, move to other places and infect more hosts before consuming the last one.