* Posts by BristolBachelor

2200 publicly visible posts • joined 30 Jan 2009

US Dept for Homeland Security shafted by trivial web bug

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But wouldn't the webserver / php script processor need to be able to read wp-config.php in order to serve the wp blog?

Kickstarted mobe charger 'kicked to death by Apple'

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Re: err

@rvt

My Galaxy Note very reliably transfers video + audio over it's USB connector to my HDMI TV. Just saying.

MIT boffins demonstrate NEW form of magnetism

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Re: excited states apparently exist in a contiuum between quantum states

It does go aganst the idea, yeah. So either their quanta are really multiples of quanta, ot they're not quanta, or it's like when you read a single binary bit over time which can only be 0 or 1, but for some unfothomable reason has a mean value somewhere inbetween

Total APPLE DESKTOP ABSENCE set to last past XMAS - sources

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Unhappy

Re: This news just in

The funny thing is that I came to the comments to say that I've been waiting for over a year for a new Mac desktop (Mac Pro), but they don't seem to be coming; they just have mains powered ipads on a stand instead

Chips in spaaaaace: old tech is in

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Re: Just remembered

Tripple redundancy is used in a lot of places, and not only digitally. In flight computers, sometimes you will see 3 different processor types, running software from different teams to ensure that there is no common failure mode between different branches. Sometimes you will see higher redundancy too, for example a number of flight computers running in parallel with each implementing it's own redundancy; this helps planes to continue flying with a large number of failures, for example caused by bullets...

Lawyer sues Microsoft rather than slot an SD card into his Surface

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Joke

Class action

"Sokolowski hopes, however, that his complaint will gain class-action status"

But even if both of the other purchasers join him, does that count as classs-action?

Windows boss Steve Sinofsky exits Microsoft

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FAIL

Internationalisation

Apart from TIFKAM she was responsible for "internationalisation"?

Does that means she is the person I have to ask why we have to buy and support 8 different versions of windows 7? The SO has a Mac, and there is just the 1, then you go to settings and tell it which language/region settings you want.

Oh and don't get me started about some apps changing short-cut keys between regions and some not. Or Excel functions changing their names, except in VBa where you have to use a different name (the English one).

Medical scan record that the NHS says will cost £2k to retrieve: Detail

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Coat

Re: Another reason (if one were needed)

Tiff actually allows any amount of metadata that you want. It also supports layers and the layers suport degrees of transparency too. The layers can contain both bitmapped and vector content, and bitmapped content can be in different resolutions to each other. Oh and varying degrees of compression, which can be lossless. A Tiff file can also be multiple pages, and lower capability renderers tend to just show what they can, leaving out what they don't understand. Tiff has come along way since just being 1-dimensional Huffman coding.

Apple tries to add Galaxy Note, Jelly Bean to patent slapfest

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Trollface

"I'd rather use a finger I can't lose."

Awww bless you, you enjoy finger painting; well done. Me; I've got as far as pens and being able to write. It's a lot better way to communicate. I'd better go now; I can see your mummy coming with your bottle.

Windows Phone 8 has a secret feature which may activate at any time

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@Paul Shirley

You seem to be luckier than me. I often seem to find free WiFi or ones with a one-time code like in hotels that don't do email at all. It seems to be http on port 80 or nothing.

Microsoft shoots Windows Live Messenger, brings in Skype IM

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Re: Oh no it wasnt the first IM Service!

I seem to remember using "talk" which was only 1 to 1, and then "conf" which allowed conferences a very long time ago (calling myself Coffeesaurus) about the same time that NCSA released mosaic.

Firm-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's tax dodge profit shift? Totally legit

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@stratman

Doesn't help. Take Starbucks as an example. I think that they buy their coffee beans from a company in Switzerland. That company can charge Starbucks UK whatever they want. Now you want to make coffee non tax deductable too? What about printing? cleaning chemicals? cups? There are a million products or services that these companies buy that could all be charged at any rate they want so fhat the profit appears wherever they want.

How Bodyform's farting 'CEO' became a viral sensation

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Re: Rocket speed

Indeed. I don't think I could even get a purchase req sent out in less than a week in any company I've worked at, let alone get agreement about something too.

Mission to Pluto faces DEEP SPACE DEBRIS PERIL

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Re: Wow

Gosh, I remember space.com It was a website that published news and stuff for those interested in/working in the space industry, with a comment system and many knowledgable folk.

ISTR that it turned into an offshoot of Facebook instead, complete with comments of people without even common sense level of physics, amazed that we can calculate things using applied maths, and articles/comments about as useful as homeopathy/astrology. Now you mention it, I miss it :(

Why is solid-state storage so flimsy?

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Trollface

@ Toxteth O'Gravy

So you're saying that the drive you bought is 512 times bigger than the one in the article, and only half full? So you've filled 256 times the size of his drive, but he should be OK?

Woz labels Apple 'arrogant' over iPhone size inadequacy

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Trollface

Re: Don't get 'arrogant'

I'd love to see your face when the garage deliver your new car; painted bright magenta, with yellow dots, and tell you that they decided that is the colour you want; after all, they know better than you.

Microsoft really is watching us from above

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Joke

Re: Makes note to check camouflage on the shark pens

You'll need to add just the right amount of hat-grade aluminium foil too; the radar sats used by the same crew who sell sat images to Google will see straight through your run-of-the-mill stuff and you'll end up with a tax demand for an unauthorized swimmingpool. Although thinking about it, that does mean free sharkfood when the tax man calls...

Supreme Court confirms telco immunity on spying charges

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Trollface

So surely they should be advocating the use of Chinese routers, no?

ICO tries to justify hefty NHS data breach fines

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@ John Smith 19

It's not just at Flight Rediness Review. I signed off designs on a flight control computer, and can always be held accountable if a later review finds a problem. I remember talking to an engineer going through it who was practically having a breakdown about if he should've used higher precision components (finally turned out to be pilot error, but it struck me how on the line I was).

Huawei says US probe had 'predetermined outcome'

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Big Brother

Re: Hypocrisy of the highest order

Is this the same US that uses telecom gear to illegally spy on its citizens and companies?

Maybe the Chinese companies didn't include the required backdoors for them?

SpaceX Falcon 9 flameout leaves commercial satellite in wrong orbit

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Re: Insurance

To attract lower premiums, the insurance groups would have to have better confindence in it than e.g. Ariane 5, which has 50 consecutive launch sucesses. Surviving with an engine out doesn't help if you didn't manage to deliver the payload.

The issue is that they claim a significantly cheaper launch, and if they deliver on their promises, you coukd buy the launch and forego insurance and save enough money to buy a new sat. Of course your business plan probably took that into account and so doesn't have the spare money, nor an extra 2-3 years to wait for the new sat.

Crazed Microsoft robot accuses BBC kids' channel of Win8 piracy

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Facepalm

45

I read somewhere that the disputed pages contained the number "45", so does that mean that MS are saying that they own the number and no-one else is allowed to use it? Has "IP" protection gone mad?

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 review

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Re: Spamming Vodafone

@Tom 11

I guess it could be the stupid pr#*k who's just spamming the comments as AC saying it's too big, etc. They are probably envious after signing a 5 year contract to buy their current phone, to find that maps doesn't even work)

As for soft keys with the stylus; the Note 1 has gestures; you press the button on the stylus and draw right to left to go back, or draw bottom to top to"pull up" the menu.

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Re: Soft buttons in landscape mode

On the note1, I do find it happens sometimes with the back button. (maybe I'm holding it wrong?)

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Trollface

@Gorillaphone

Don't worry; you'll probably go through a growth spurt when puberty kicks in

Now Space Station forced to DODGE flying Japanese junk

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Re: What they need

1. The things up there are generally non-magnetic, because otherwise the magnetic field from the Earth really buggers up their orbits.

2. What makes you think that there is lots of gold or platinum? If it's because of the yellowy orange colour you see on them, then I suggest yoy save your effort and just collect lemons and oranges instead;the orange colour is the plastic polyimide.

Event Horizon Telescope spots source of black hole jets

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Joke

@Gorddon 11

But didn't I read somewhere that the individual bits (the wave interference patterns that makes stuff like matter) have a memory of everything that it's been in contact with? So dif you therefore dilute it in an infinite amount of water, it will cure any ill (as long as it's sold with a high enough price).

OK I'll crawl back under my rock.

Fuming fanbois flood 'flimsy iPhone 5 Wi-Fi' forum

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@jai

Well if you've got your iPhone 5 running iOS 5 without any WiFi problems, then bully for you, but all the other iPhone 5 users seem to have iOS 6.

Eric Schmidt: Ha ha, NO Google maps app for iPhone 5

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Joke

"...in fact we already have Google maps for iPhone owners; it even comes with it's own processor, screen, battery, operating system..."

Apple Maps to the rescue in China/Japan conflict

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Re: Dodged one

Are there really two separate sets of islands on iMaps, or does it just show up whatever name you search for? If it's the latter, how different is that from searches showing up London or Londres as being the same place?

I can't test the theory; I only have Google maps here.

iPhone 5 Lightning cables sticking in USB ports

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Re: Usual Apple bashing

"... are up to spec..."

Hold on. Doesn't the USB spec say that plugs should have a feature on the top side to feel which way is up to help plugging it in by touch (including helping the visually impared?) Please tell me that the little white sleeves now have a braille type dot on or something now.

Half of Milky Way's mass found in million-Kelvin gas cloud

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Re: no way out?

It says diffuse cloud, so I'd assume that you wouldn't hit to many of them on your way out; a bit like solar radiation or cosmic rays. It's a bit like the difference between being underwater compared to out in the rain and being scaref of drowning. Yes it's another issue to overcome because you don't want to get wet,but probably trifling compared to the problem of actually getting there (maybe like worying about the temperature in the Sahara deset when you go out for a walk - starting in Sydney)

iOS 6 maps can't find Sydney Apple Store

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Joke

Re: Map errors

Yeah, but that's because you can submit map errors to Google, to get them fixed. Apple will just tell you that you're looking at it wrongly!

Why lock your digits to a phone? Telefonica to flog cloudy numbers

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Trollface

@AC 10:17

That sounds perfect, just what I need. I'll take 4 straight away. Just make sure that the ones you send me fit into a Cisco 7965 VOIP phone for when I'm in the cleanroom. Also It will need to be self-duplicating, so that my partner can also have it in their phone so that either of us may answer incoming business calls. Also it will need to unify itself with the ones Iget for m work number and personal number, so that I can answer any of them.

Yay, I can troll too.

Health minister warns ISPs: Block suicide websites or face regulation

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FAIL

Government "help"

" This week, the government has launched a campaign in England to help prevent people from committing suicide"

You might think that this would include easy access to mental halthcare professionls, councelors, etc. but no, all it needs is threats to ISPs. That will help those at their wits end.

Mio Spirit 695 LM satnav review

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Re: it was all looking good until

I wouldn't bother with the TomTom map updates, to be honest. I only use it in Madrid now. The 2nd businest motorway in Madrid was changed and a major junction was closed and a new one added. 2 years later, it's still not in the update. Another junction changed, and if you follow the TomTom, it takes you the wrong way down a slip road, heading the wrong way along a dual carriageway. Guess what? 2 years later, still the same

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 hands-on review

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Trollface

@robert_raw

I can see why you would be confused. I often see silly twonks holding bars of chocolate to their heads and talking to themselves. I initially thought they might be on the phone, but everyone knows that a telephone looks like an oversized banana made of bakerlite with a coily cable

/sarc

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It seems that often "reviews" are just reprints of the press-release. At least they actually had it!

Bruce Willis didn't Buy Hard: His girls can't inherit his iTunes

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@Steve 1

" and you don't have to create a playlist, either."

I tried it on my 1st gen ipod without creating a playlist. It spent about half an hour copying before telling me it failed because it didn't fit. I wonder why it didn't check that it would fit before wasting half am hour trying, but never mind. It seems I had to create a playlist to say what I wanted copied (or at least, that was by far the easiest method)

A bit later when I tried to chage what I had on it, I was told that my itunes was too old. I theb went through untold downloads/installs/reboots before deciding that I couldn't get it to work and giving up. On the way, quicktime (which seems to be an essential component of copying files over USB) broke the codec for. mov files, and since then I haven't even wbeen able to play them with Canon's own software.

In my opinion, the ipod touch is a marvelous product, but itunes rates worse than Adobe flash on my list of worst ever software :-/

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Android tablet review

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Trollface

I'm curious. How does does the ipad know when you are just hovering over the screen (for example to open the menu option "My ebay" on the famous tat bazar to select searches), compared to actually pressing a link?

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Re: Stylus performance?

On my note, the mark showing where the pen "is" lines up if I hold the pen at the right angle. If I hold it vertically, it is to the left of the real position. As for lefties, that's probably why there is an option to say you are left-handed in the settings. Also, have you turned on the option to see where it thinks the pen is (this option only appeared with ICS).

We're raising generations of MUTANT KIDS, says Icelandic study

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ASDs

It kind of depends which side of the fence you're on. From my side of the fence, it's a scale from being able to recognise patterns and see deviations from them and an inherent ability to undrstand how things work; through to being able to gossip non-stop about which big-brother contestant said what about which celebrity.

My jacket is the one where the sleeves do up at the back, thanks.

Apple TV: Rubbish, you don't like documentaries – I'll just flick to porn

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Joke

Re: Prior art

I'm sorry Axe, but Apple has patented it.

You are now required to go to a courtroom in California and spend 3 weeks of your life explaining why you shouldn't give $400B to Apple and have your brain removed to prevent further infringement.

Curiosity preps for first Martian road trip

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Trollface

Re: wind sensor fault

Yes; poor show!

They shouldv'e sealed the weatherstation in a box to protect it!

/sarc

The cooler side of the Big Bang

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Re: Oh inflation

Hmmm.. An interesting theory. However I think thst the main problem with inflation is explaining why it happens. In this theory would need to explain why entanglement was lost; do we need an "entanglement-breaking" field, and does it need its own force-carrier particle? a MIPS Boson?

Post-pub nosh deathmatch

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Re: Ghip buttie bristolian style

If you're in Bristol, I'd recommend the small shack on the water front next to the old cranes and dock museum. I'dask for a BSE sandwich (Bacon, Sausage & Egg) Mmmm. I miss Bristol :-(

Optical Express 'ruined my life' gripe site lives on

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Trollface

Re: Streisand effect?

If "epetition" is spelt "optician", how is "email" spelt?

Anyway, I thought an "optician" was someone that botched Lasic? What does that have to do with petitions done electronically?

Samsung to fight iPad with stylus, windows

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Trollface

@LarsG

" Remember the Compac ones, I still have one, a crash every 10 minutes."

You must be "holding it wrong". I have the Galaxy Note phone with a stylus, and I don't think it's ever crashed!

Vodafone and pals can't kick the habit of cheap mobe prices

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@HMB

That's great, but what do you do when 4 months in, they drop the allowed data to something your G2 uses in 5 minutes, as well as increasing the monthly prices within the allowances on your 24 month contract. Or alternatively, they change their network, or you change your typical locations such that you get practically no coverage? I guess you just have to live with it for the remainder of your term.

NASA’s new lander CRASHES AND BURNS

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Joke

Re: It was the countdown...

It may have been a rounding error; after doing the conversion from feet to cm?