Posts by Eponymous Cowherd

Interesting

If this works it would make electric cars as convenient as petrol / diesel models. There are a number of problems to overcome. How, as Chris Morely asks, do you determine the cost of a recharge? I assume that it will be possible to pass the out-flowing electrolyte through a sampling cell in the pump to determine its "charge" and combine this with the actual volume to be replaced (different cars will have different capacities and *all* the electrolyte will need replacing irrespective of the remaining charge) to calculate the cost.

Another problem would be how to recharge the electrolyte given that it will be extracted from different vehicles in different states of charge. Can it all be mixed together? I assume there will need to be (at least) 3 forecourt "tanks". One to receive discharged electrolyte, one to hold electrolyte being charged and one to hold fully charged electrolyte for delivery. These could be rotated as each batch is charged.

The problem with the li-titanate "fast charge" is that, irrespective of the ability of the battery to *absorb* the charge, the "pump" must be able to deliver it, and safely. Very high currents and very high voltages in the hands of Joe Sixpack......?

Armani - WinMob6.5

Its like a Ferrari branded moped.

Re:DVLA

***"Cute bunnies?...That gives me an idea, perhaps the RSPCA inspectors, want a feed to check that a banned dog owner isn't buying dog food"***

Even better, they could keep a check on men who buy puppies. Everyone knows paedophiles use puppies to lure kids into their cars, so anyone buying one should be immediately put on the sex offenders register.

Just in case.

Ditto kittens and bunnies.

Think of the Children!

Just need more bullets.

Preferably loaded into a minigun.

So we can ensure that the next ad exec w*nker to stick his head above the behavioural advertising parapet gets it as messily messily splattered as Ertugrul's

Mind you, you will need armour piercing bullets in order to penetrate the average advertising tosspot's inordinately thick skin and even thicker Neanderthalesque skull.

He's a 2/3 gonner, then.

Bing Is Not Google. And that's its problem.

Win Mobile has to play massive catch-up with Apple, Google and Palm.

So his hopes are really all on Win 7.

National Lottery

***"Updated computational techniques and newly available data indicate the probability of an Earth encounter on April 13, 2036, for Apophis has dropped from one-in-45,000 to about four-in-a million."***

So I'll still be around 50 times *more* likely to be squished by Apophis than winning the UK National Lottery jackpot the day before.

Winning the lottery, or dying in flaming asteroid induced Armageddon. "It could be you".

One sure-fire vote winner.

Outlaw private wheel clamping.

@ Neal 5

OK, I know you are a stupid little troll, but this is *such* fun.

***"what is broken is the morality of the coder of the malicious website"***

I assume you don't need locks on your house, then? No need, 'cos its the morality of the burglar that's the problem.

Ugh.....

Looks like it was designed by someone after doing a few Blender tutorials.

Flash everywhere...

...except on the iPhone

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8287239.stm

I wonder if this has anything to do with Apple's anally retentive control over the App Store and which apps can run on the iPhone. A Flash interpreter on the iPhone will allow it to run apps that are out of Apple's control (directly from web sites) and, as the C64 emulator fiasco illustrates, Apple don't much like that.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/09/08/c64_app_store_no_show/

Fair enough.

We should all stop using post codes until the PO sees sense.

It would have the added advantage that the PO would have to keep all its staff on in order to sort all of that un-postcoded mail.

Of course its a bloody game

***"It's not a game. We're fighting crime and terrorism," Tony Morgan, the businessman behind the idea told The Register*.***

If the people doing the watching are paid, then they are employees.

If they are unpaid then they are volunteers.

If they do it to win prizes then they are competitors which means it *is* a frikking *GAME*.

FFS, snooping for prizes, where could this end? "£100 if you spot a mugging, £1000 if you spot a rape. If you are lucky you may even see a murder and grab the £10,000 star prize and appear in our next TV commercial."**

**Terms and conditions apply, winning entries must result in a conviction for which you may be required to appear in court. Internet Eyes accepts no responsibility for any death or injury that may occur at the hands of the defendant, and witness relocation costs may be deducted from your prize money.

Harriet Harman

Icon says it all.

Steve Who?

"Isn't he the Apple bloke?"

Most Wintards know who Bill Gates is, but Ballmer?

Catch 22?

If you need a VAG, then you probably won't have good enough broadband to *have* a VAG.

About the only real use (enough to justify the £160 outlay) would be to provide fast data access to 3G handsets that *don't* have WiFi. Even then its probably going to be cheaper to change handset.

A solution looking for a problem, IMHO.

@Anonymous Hero

How about you do some research before flaming.

See http://www.tvretune.co.uk/troubleshooting/

under "Has your Freeview TV or box stopped working following a re-tune?" you will see:

"A limited number of early Freeview TVs and boxes may fail when re-tuned. A list of models affected is available here which includes manufacturer phone numbers. If you discover your equipment is affected, Freeview recommends you contact the manufacturer."

Some Mothers do 'ave 'em effect.

You feel cringingly embarrassed just watching it.

Well Done DVLA

Thank you for, yet again, demonstrating how the Government cannot be trusted with personal data and illustrating why the National ID card scheme and the National Identity Register is such a very BAD idea!

Where's a policeman when you need one?

Probably blaming the colour TV.....

Mine's the one with a Discography CD in the pocket.

Playmobil

Please, please, please!

Revolte?

Are they serious?

BBC Watchdog: Protecting stupid people from themselves.

The problem with Watchdog is that for every genuine issue they report, another 4 or 5 are trumped-up bullshit where the numpty customer only has themselves to blame.

How many times do you see the representative of a company giving (or at least trying to give) reasoned and reasonable answers to some shouty Watchdog presenter's moronic questions?

"Why were customers not warned that SupaBleach isn't suitable for washing babies"?

That sort of thing.

@Stike Vomit

***"Two words for you: 'Fuel duty'."***

You might like to note that the car driven by his chefness Martin was subject to neither fuel duty OR VED.

So I guess, by your logic, he had no more right to be on the road than the cyclists.

String

No round-up of TW is complete without The Goodies "It might as well be String" spoof.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13EZ62rsYT4&NR=1

At 7:40

NHS, Free at the point of use.

Except for:

Phone calls.

Parking.

Dentistry (if you can actually *find* an NHS dentist).

Opticians.

Drugs not approved by *your* health authority even when approved by NICE (postcode lottery).

And then, of course, there's they way they rip off patients for bedside services (phone, tv, etc).

Still, the NHS *does* offer choice. Pay £££ to park, or die of cancer. You choose.

Muttley, do something!

Drat, drat, and double drat.

Foiled again.

I'm sure....

he'll have no trouble getting a "date" in Franklin County Jail.

Beaten by the Aussies again.

I had thought the UK had its position at the top of the Oppressive Nanny State league pretty much sewn up.

Then the bloody Australians pull this out of the bag.

They just *hate* to lose at anything, don't they?

@Richard 12

***All you need is to not use a ring main or spurred wiring, and to fit a dirty great big filter at the incomer."***

Not on a ring or spur?

Note to self. Never let anyone called "Richard" do electrical work in the Cowherd house.

Unforseen side effects.

How many time have humans f**ked up an environment and then implemented an engineered "solution" which only succeeded in f**king it up even more?

The introduction of cane toads in Australia comes to mind. They ignored the bugs they were intended to eat and munched their way through the native fauna instead. Now they are a *huge* problem themselves.

What will be the side effects of blocking solar radiation with big mirrors? How will it effect plant life and *its* ability to remove CO2? How is blasting huge quantities of sea water into the upper atmosphere a good idea? What if the calculations are wrong? What happens when it comes back down?

The probable consequences of global warming aren't well understood themselves. If you start introducing poorly understood "fixes" to a poorly understood phenomenon then you are as likely to cause and even bigger disaster as you are to fix the original problem.

Nothing to hide

Nothing to fear.

No, really.

You really can trust UK.GOV with your intimate details.

Really.

Honestly.

You can.

Sign up for you ID card now and we'll guarantee your biometric data will be secure.

For *AT LEAST* 5 minutes.

How feckin much?

My Vodafone Magic was "free" for £22 PCM. 600 mins, unlimited texts and mobile Internet.

I can understand how iPhone fashion victims could be persuaded to part with £crazy for a *phone*, but how O2 expects to screw that kind of money out of people for an Android phone when almost identical phones are available for *much* less is beyond belief.

Live by the Sword

Die by the Sword.

So its "justice" to rip into TomTom et al because of supposed patent infringements, but not "justice" when its Microsoft on the receiving end?

As predicted.

Nooooo, ID cards won't be compulsory.

It will be almost impossible to live your life without one, but they won't *actually* be compulsory.

Bastards!

That speck in the distance.....

is the CSS horse laughing at futile attempts to shut the stable door after it bolted several *years* ago.

Perhaps they think that if they slam the door *really* hard the horse might magically re-appear?

I'm amazed.....

....that anyone could hear the Home Office spokesperson. I mean he must of sounded very muffled with his head so firmly suck in that bucket of sand.

Joking aside, this highlights one of the biggest dangers of the ID card system. The refusal of officialdom to accept that they could, in any way, be fallible.

If you find yourself a victim of identity theft or fraud where a UKID card was used as proof of ID then you won't see your money ever again or, worse, if you find yourself *accused* of fraud because your ID card implicated you, then expect to be a guest of Her Majesty for a few years because nobody will believe it wasn't you.

Dear Sheeple

We will demand of you your personal and intimate details and stick them in a database of dubious security.

If *you* fail to notify *us* of any changes to said details we will fine the shit out of you or chuck you in jail.

If *we* make a f**k up and ruin *your* life and reputation then its just tough shit.

If you complain about said f**k up we will fine the shit out of you or chuck you in jail.

Lots of Luv

HM Government.

Family pack

***"the Family Pack will be priced $149.99, and it will let you install Windows 7 Home Premium on three home PCs."***

Why 3? How did they come up with the idea that a "family" would have 3 PCs?

Personally my family has 4. One each. So this isn't a lot of use to me.

But then I'm using the Ubuntu "family pack". Priced at £0.00 and can be installed on as many computers as I like.

Time to do a runner.

Seriously.

If McKinnon goes to the US, he's seriously f**ked. He'll be banged up for the rest of his natural. The US have spent so much time and effort trying to extradite this sad little bastard that anything other that a conviction and maximum sentence is out of the question.

If he hangs around, he's going to jail for the rest of his life.

If he does a runner and gets caught, he goes to jail for the rest of his life.

Nothing to lose.

Time to run.

Should have got that Wallace bloke to do it.

Him being a well known cheese aficionado and having previous experience in cheese orientated space exploration.

Missing the point *again*

The issue here isn't the speed you *can* get *sometimes*. The issue is the speed you get when you *want* it.

Its all very well saying Joe Average gets 3.3Mbits, but if he's only getting (and from bitter experience with BT) <256KBits at "peak" times (I.e, when he *wants* it) then his usable speed is only 256KBits, which is next to useless for anything but basic web browsing and email.

I know you only get what you pay for, but ISPs should be compelled to lay out exactly what you *are* paying for *before* you sign up.( I.e both the maximum and *minimum* speeds you can expect as well as AUPs and throttling regimes that are used on that service).

Re: I am a Macbook Air

***"And that's why I laugh at the PC fanboys. They don't know what they diss. They are slugs criticising the performance of swans."***

Have you *seen* a swan trying to get into the air? You call that performance?

The last time I saw a swan attempting take-off, it crashed into a sea wall.

All the features customers have come to expect.

"Unique Design".

Umm, no.

Not very important at all. And if "unique" = "Megane" then they can keep it.

"Compact car size".

Ummm, no.

I want a car that's big enough for a family of 4 plus luggage.

"Space for 5 people".

Yes.

"100 Mile range".

Ummm, no.

Way too short. 150 miles would be barely adaquate, 200 preferable.

"Advanced safety features".

You mean like every new fossil burner already has?

"Premium amenities".

Err, what's that then?

Air-con that will reduce the 100 mile range to more like 60 miles?

A heater that will do the same in the winter?

Or do they mean an ISS style techno-dunny under each seat?

So 1 out of 6, then. Sorry, but when they are groping for selling points *that* lame you *know* that the FAIL icon is justified.

Skiddies?

Is that because they can't wipe properly?