* Posts by EddieD

1117 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Jun 2009

Review: Star Wars: The Force Awakens offers a new hope for the franchise

EddieD

I may go see it

After seeing the Phantom menace I swore off Star Wars. I thought the Red Neck review which you can find on YouTube, whilst hideously over the top, is essentially accurate. And, just as few English actors can do a good Scots accent, few Scots (other than posh Edinburghers) can do a convincing English accent, and Ewan, who is a fine actor, couldn't do a convincing Alec Guinness.

However, given the positive reviews, I'll go and see it, but I'm going to wait until it's been out for some time, and I can get a discount - I'm not paying the rip off amounts that cinemas charge these days.

Tablet computer zoom error saw plane fly 13 hours with 46cm hole

EddieD

Re: Errr..clarification

Interestingly* though, if you take a bike on a plane most airlines (Hello Easyjet) force you to flatten your tyres before they put it into the hold so that the tyres don't explode in the low pressures at altitude. Most tyres could cope with the lower pressure anyway if the hold wasn't pressurised - a 100psi tyre should be able to be inflated to 130 without issue.

Last time I flew with my bike I just sent it into auto-baggage handling as the case is of a size that is compatible with such systems - I did put a large sticker on it explaining what it contained. Its tyres survived the flight quite happily.

*Well, interesting to me, anyways.

EddieD

Re: @ RIBrsiq @Turtle Typo Or Not?

V2 is now the Samsung Sur40 iirc

GCHQ Christmas Card asks YOU the questions

EddieD

Very cryptic

The page with instructions won't resolve in my copy of Firefox - I use NoScript and AddBlock, but right clicking doesn't even get a context menu.

Which leaves the question, how do they know it's me to block me?

Hmm, no tinfoil hat icon...

Day 2: UK research network Janet still being slapped by DDoS attack

EddieD

Re: Need to get back to my assignment but

Or, as was the case at my Uni, all the students used their gmail accounts.

As did all the staff.

Everyone wants a piece of software maker Atlassian's ass

EddieD

Good for them.

I enjoyed using Confluence when I was working at a University, it was easy to get to grips with, even for the less computer literate, which made my job in support less painful.

I think that the lack of marketing/direct sales is a plus - they only put in the software what is asked for, not what they think might make a good sales pitch.

'Dear Daddy...' Max Zuckerberg’s Letter back to her Father

EddieD
Joke

Okay, she's young...

but a blastula isn't a single cell. It's at the stage where the ball of cells starts developing a hollow, fluid filled interior (the blastocoel), the cells start to develop identities (Vogt's fate map), etc.

I know, she's wee, but they have to start learning sooner or later.

Reg reader achieves bronze badge, goes directly to jail

EddieD

Re: D****

Sherrif he says - which would indicate he's north of the border.

I'll check the papers.

Reg mashup rates CompSci unis for books, booze and boogie

EddieD

Time to do a Basil Fawlty

Glad we're not on the list...we don't want any riff-raff

Oracle: Fight for the right to be third to Amazon's AWS

EddieD

Re: That's not quite how Oracle will gain a foothold

Depends what the metric is - Microsoft may be ahead in revenue, but given Amazon's ruthless price cutting strategy, they're going to be ahead in numbers - customers/VMs/apps/whatever...

Bacon can kill: Official

EddieD

Risk assessment...

"increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18%"

That's 18% of about 4.5% or your chances of getting colorectal cancer goes from 4.5% to 5.3%, which doesn't sound so scary.

Everything has a risk, we have to balance risks, and I'm not giving up my bacon butties when I've got a much higher chance of being mown down at some point in my life when cycling than getting colorectal cancer, so I might as well enjoy myself whilst I can.

I've no doubt I said the same thing about cigarettes when I was a smoker...

El Reg celebrates Back to the Future Day

EddieD

As his glass filled, Marty sadly realised that google glass was no substitute for beer goggles.

Post-pub schnellnosh neckfiller: Currywurst

EddieD

Re: Our first Currywurst

Thank you!

All these recipes, delicious as they all are, they're all to friggin' complicated for post-pub nosh.

Well, they are for me...a few slice of cheese on a piece of bread, grilled, and hopefully not setting the house on fire, are as far as I can go post pub - and even finding the grill tends to be best out of three...

Once again...https://mitchbenn.bandcamp.com/track/make-yourself-a-sandwich

Doctor Who returns to our screens next week – so, WHO is the worst Time Lord of them all?

EddieD

Hard to choose.

My first memory of Dr Who was a monochrome Troughton being offered a series of different faces which he rejected (too old, too young etc). Then Jon Pertwee fell out of the Tardis in colour, and my Saturday evenings became fairly bound by ritual...

Throughout the 70s I watched as Pertwee became Baker - and then I turned 16 in 1980, got a girlfriend, and all of a sudden I had something far better to do of a Saturday afternoon, so I didn't really watch much after that - and in 1982 I went to Uni, and telly became a rare treet - so I only have occasional episodes to base my opinions on.

In the end, it had to be Ecclestone. I really didn't like his portrayal of the character...I can't judge Matt Smith as you can number the episodes I saw with him on the fingers of one head...

Tech tycoon TV star Doug Richard charged with child sex offences

EddieD

+1

Our local rag website doesn't allow commenting on any case until after the verdict, an attitude which I find surprisingly good, given that it's not the greatest paper in the UK.

I'd think that El Reg should follow their example.

Microsoft backports data slurp to Windows 7 and 8 via patches

EddieD

Re: No block through windows

Since I can't edit a post to this topic, I'll have to make another reply.

After blocking the two addresses on my router, I'm denied access to just about all microsoft services - bing, bing maps (which really hurts as they have the Ordnance map), Outlook.com, microsoft translate and so on - I don't use Xbox services, but I would think that they would be kaput too.

All work fine if I use Tor.

Basically what seems to have happened is "if you don't allow us to hoover your data, whether or not you have consented, adios". I'll be interested to see if my Windows install and office fall out of registration.

I think a mail to the Information comissioner would be in order

EddieD

Re: No block through windows

I blocked these addresses on my router.

Now, no Bing websites will resolve directly, but they will via the Tor browser.

Go figure, as they say.

EddieD

No block through windows

But you can on your router?

Black and blue: The rise of the riotous Richard Pryor

EddieD

I ain't dead yet....

...Motherfucker...

This was the title page on his website, as many folk thought that he had succumbed to his illnesses, until he really was dead

https://web.archive.org/web/20040605232120/http://www.richardpryor.com/home.cfm

A wonderfully funny guy, with big problems - but wonderfully funny.

Please, please, keep on reminding us of folk who can distract us from our drab mundane lives*, and make this vale of tears** worth persisting with...

*Tom Lehrer

**The bible, apparently, but oft-quoted by the good doctor

You've been Drudged! Malware-squirting ads appear on websites with 100+ million visitors

EddieD

It's in the addons panel - go to the plugins menu, you'll see shockwave flash, and on the extreme right, a wee drop down that gives the click to activate options.

The BBC is another sinner in the autoplay stakes.

Get thee behind me, Satanic mills! Robert Owen's Scottish legacy

EddieD

Well worth a visit...

It's got a lovely combination of excellent history well presented, and incredible scenery (and the café is pretty good too). The staff are extremely helpful - I drove my aging parents down to drop them off and I was going to return to the (free) public carparks at the top of the gorge - the staff told me I could park down at the bottom even though it's not officially allowed. Try to go on a day when the shut off the Hydro bypass so that they Falls of Clyde look their best. Standing in front of that waterwheel when it's in motion (last time I was there it was stopped for painting) can induce a stomach turning optical illusion.

Last time I was there, I saw an Otter on the upper part of the Clyde walks, Peregrines are resident in the spring.

Voyager's Golden Record now free to download

EddieD

Stylus not required

There are severly methods of playing records that don't use a stylus - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_turntable

Bill Hicks: 25 years on from the cult comedian's big break

EddieD

Very dangerous

I saw him once during the Festival in Edinburgh, even though I barely remember it as I was pissed as newt - not unusual for me during the Festival.

I had a really bizarre moment in 2001 when I was given a Bill Hicks video, and he did this routine about President Bush involving the world in a war in Iraq - I thought it was wonderfully current and edgy, till I did the inevitable double take, it was recorded a decade earlier, and the Bush was GH, not GW.

I still dig out my recordings, they're still as perfectly pitched now as the first time I heard them.

My father introduced me to Lenny Bruce, Bill picked up his ball and ran with it. So many comedians try to emulate his anger, but never manage to blend in the satire, wit and most importantly humility, that tempered Bill's rants.

AdBlock aims to send filthy malverts on one-way LSD trip

EddieD

Yebbut

I seem to remember that AdBlock now sells exceptions to their blocklist to the highest bidder, so surely if folk start using this, AdBlock will just giggle gently and accept payments both from those blocking and those advertising.

I'm more than a tad out of the loop these days, so feel free to correct me.

Google's Cardboard 2.0 virtual reality device is a triumph for humanity, said no one sane, ever

EddieD

Photography took off when Kodak started the Box Brownie - which originally was also made of carboard.

I'd love an Oculus Rift (we had one at work, and had a lot of fun with it), but I can't justify the cost. I'd love Microsoft to release it's weird device - but I probably won't be able to afford that.

This is priced at the point where folk may get it just for a laugh - and at that point we start getting the crowd feedback about such things, and the experience improves.

The big problem for me is that I have 7 inches, which is just too much for these devices/

Will Hay: Britain's bumbling star of the screen and skies

EddieD

Fond memories

I still remember nearly dying with laughter watching Will Hay films when I was young - when I was reviewing a Marx Bros film a few weeks ago I got to thinking of Oh! Mr Porter, and The goose steps.

Thanks for the memories - and when I get a spare evening, I'll search YouTube for some more memories.

Sorry, Windows 10 early adopters: Microsoft Edge WON'T block ads at launch

EddieD

Re: Irrelevant

I'll stick with Firefox.

Flash and PDF should be the first to go.

How Groucho Marx lost his voice and found his funny bone

EddieD

Too many quotes...

I can't pick just one.

Chico and particularly Harpo, were virtuoso musicians, but Groucho was a virtuoso with repartee. Of all the monochrome masters, the Marx Brothers have pole position for me. As a child I sat and watched the films with my Granny - along with Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Hope and Crosby, but as a middle aged man it's the Marx Brothers box set I have on my shelves.

Many a stand up comedian, and many a writer, acknowledge their debt to the Marx Brothers, and Groucho's attitude in particular. Many have got close, but I don't think anyone has surpassed Groucho with his effortless ability to charm, surprise, and just plain make folk laugh.

Thanks for reminding me to get Duck Soup out on this moist Mayday Monday

Bonny Scottish post-pub nosh neckfiller: Rumbledethumps

EddieD

Famous dish

Allegedly, it's Gordon Brown's favourite snack.

However, as usual, some cautionary words.

http://mitchbenn.bandcamp.com/track/make-yourself-a-sandwich

RADIOACTIVE WWII aircraft carrier FOUND OFF CALIFORNIA

EddieD

Re: 13-tentacled octopuses

Call it what you like, but pass the lemon slices and aioli - and maybe a nice bottle of something chilled...

Transparency thrust sees Met police buying up to 30,000 bodycams

EddieD

Re: face recognition

Can't wait to be stopped by the police when cycling (my standard transport mode) because my helmet, glasses and buff (covers my ears and chin) are preventing facial recognition. And bikers will be prevented from full-face helmets.

Won't be long.

Google takes ARC Welder to Android, grafts on Windows, OS X

EddieD

Re: Native Client - NaCl

Depends on which salt...MgS04 is very bitter....

Firefox hits prime time as version 37 manifests

EddieD

Bookmarks.

Have they brought back a nice, user-friendly, drop down menu - hierarchical or otherwise - of bookmarks, that doesn't involve a lot of tedious messing around and installing yet another add-on to restore functionality?

Virgin Media goes TITSUP, RUINS Tuesday evening

EddieD

Hmm

It seems to me that yet anothe problem that was only affecting London and the Home Counties has become "TOTAL UK BLACKOUT OH MY GOD THE HUMANITY"

No-one I know here in the heathen wilderness of Scotland had a problem, my family in the bleak wastelands of the North Midlands didn't have a problem, nor seemingly did the folk I have chatted with in Wales.

In terms of numbers, it may be affecting more folk than outages up here - which do happen, they just don't get mentioned as not enough folk get affected, but please, try and maintain some sense of proportion.

I will agree, wholeheartedly, totally, unreservedly agree with the folk who say that Virgin Media have totally shit customer service and information in such instances, and for that - along with the RC4 issue and various other matters relating to data security - they deserve to be first against the wall when the revolution comes. Honesty is always far better than misinformation and extempore evasion.

HUGE Aussie asteroid impact sent TREMORS towards the EARTH'S CORE

EddieD

Re: Devonian?

To quote one evolutionary biolgist "We don't need to theorise what would have happened if dinosaurs had evolved brains, we can just look at crows"

Post-pub nosh neckfiller: Chana masala

EddieD

Found it...

http://mitchbenn.bandcamp.com/track/make-yourself-a-sandwich

Apple Safari update BORKED private browsing

EddieD

Re: surprised?

Would you care to tell us which ones, and point us at a security report?

Boffins FOAMING over a Nickel's worth of hydrogen

EddieD
Meh

Read the linked article...

It says that the nickel foam, available commercially, has iron electroplated onto it. It is then used for electrolysis. In other words, power is used twice to create the oxygen - note that the development to make the hydrogen electrode has not yet occured - it says that it "may" scale - I'd hazard a guess that the foam for hydrogen would need to be somewhat finer.

Given the amount of power used in this process, I'd very interested in an efficiency rating - X watts of power in, giving Y watts of power from a fuel cell, but I think that would have to wait a while.

It's interesting, but given how much hydrogen loves to stay bonded to whatever it's bonded to, which means "more power" to get it off, I still think that there's a while to go before the thermodynamics equations start pointing to cheaper...

Augmented reality: Who needs immersive worlds when you've got it all?

EddieD

Re: It's all fun and games

If it's that accurate, does it matter?

This was explored in story of the Trigan Empire in Look and Learn, round about 1971, which is when I first wondered about it.

Does my star look big in this? Milky Way 50 per cent fatter than expected

EddieD

Bugger.

I'm going to have to re-do my version of "The Universe Song" - there's no way I can replace "it's one hundred thousand light years side to side" with "it's one hundred and fifty thousand...."

Eric Idle will be fuming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq4uCWtQE24

Want to deploy virtual machines in a hurry? PowerShell is your friend

EddieD

Re: Really ?

"That Azure destination command may be the longest cli command I have seen. Good info for scripting as I would not wish to try that manually twice in a row on a Monday."

Type it out once (or copy/paste from the recipe supplied by the nice man), using nice wee tokens for volatile information then wrap it up in a nice wee perl script e.g. azuredeploy.pl --token1 --token2 --token3....etc

Edit: Other text/string manipulation languages exist...I just stick with the one I sort of know...

GoPro cameras' WiFi security is GoAmateur

EddieD

Mine does - I can watch or copy videos in the Android app.

Watch: FIRE-SPITTING time-lapse images of Sol showcase NASA's sun-gazing highs

EddieD

Re: Holst

Good call, but I prefer the first bits of "Shine on" from Wish you were here....

Right, hands up those who think more should must be spent on NASA/ESA et al, and less on NSA/GCHQ...

Smartphone NOT INCLUDED: Google plays with Mattel – plugs VR into retro toy

EddieD

I'd love one...

But they don't fit the Nexus 7 <sniffle>

Edit: "Kids" is a non-specific term, isn't it? As Tom Lehrer once said "I'm engaged in a serious scientific experiment - prolonging adolescence beyond previous limits"

In praise of China’s CROONING censors: Company songs NOW!

EddieD

+1

I skipped most of the article, but anything that links to Sit on my face from MPatHB gets a vote from me.

First look: Ordnance Survey lifts kimono on next-gen map app

EddieD

Re: Batteries not included

As a lifelong cartophile, I'll quote what was said on "I'm sorry I haven't a clue" and say that paper maps give me solid directions, unlike GPS which seems limp....

Google Translate MEAT GRINDER turns gay into 'faggot', 'poof', 'queen'

EddieD

Never be born on the Sabbath day

YouTube flushes Flash for future flicks

EddieD

BBC? 4OD?

I think that both the above use flash for streaming still, alas, and double alas...

Get_iplayer is great, but has its limitations.

Is it humanly possible to watch Gigli and Battlefield Earth back-to-back?

EddieD

Too late, but...

Knights.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107333/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

"In the future, a kickboxer and a robot lead a revolution against ruling cyborgs."

Which of UK's major ISPs will let you have exotic p0rn? NONE OF THEM

EddieD

Re: Sweet...

get_iplayer has been updated.