* Posts by Swarthy

2412 publicly visible posts • joined 24 Jun 2009

Roll up for El Reg's 3G/4G MONOPOLY DATA PUB CRAWL

Swarthy

Re: Interesting, but....

In any proper test, you have one variable at a time. This is why many papers have the ubiquitous "more research needed" at the end; this one has "more beers needed".

There may well be another Pub Crawl to distinguish the makes of phones on one network.

New voting rules leave innocent Brits at risk of SPAM TSUNAMI

Swarthy

Re: DPA

Rather, there should be a box that you tick that says "Please Spam me."

Who needs hackers? 'Password1' opens a third of all biz doors

Swarthy

Re: Two factor ...

I have soul but I'm not a soldier.

I was a soldier, but had no soul. Then I quit and got my soul back. I think the Sargent was holding it for safe keeping.

Swarthy

Re: Two factor ...

A token (RSA-type updating code, chipped card, a key, etc) is something you have, a bio-metric (finger print, iris/retina scan, DNA sample) is something you are.

Swarthy
Thumb Up

Re: Password fields need to be bigger.

Obligatory XKCD (We were all thinking it)

Know what Ferguson city needs right now? It's not Anonymous doxing random people

Swarthy
Stop

Re: One wonders, MkIII

Sorry jake, the footnotes don't help. It's a matter of trust. Why would someone be hurt that their wife had one affair when there are prostitutes in Nevada?

Also, my taxes aren't paying the gang members to shoot at me, and they are also not paying for the bullets, training, and range time so the gangs can shoot me more efficiently.

Google's ANDROID CRUSHING smartphone rivals underfoot

Swarthy
Joke

Re: Shipment v Market share?

"the number of shipped handsets"

If one of those ships sunk would there be a lot of armless people around?

Well, the ship did sink because the captain was legless....

Murder accused DIDN'T ask Siri 'how to hide my roommate'

Swarthy

Re: What a Siri idiot

Can an Android device be formatted with ReiserFS?

The internet just BROKE under its own weight – we explain how

Swarthy
Boffin

Re: IPv6 like OSI is far more complex than necessary

So the sublimation of an engineer, without combustion, can only be accomplished after said engineer goes through a Lorentz Transformation?

London cops cuff 20-year-old man for unblocking blocked websites

Swarthy

Re: Bail

Did they arrest him for Resisting Arrest? That would work nicely, no mention need be made about what the (original) arrest being resisted was about.

Nuts to your poncey hipster coffees, I want a TESLA ELECTRO-CAFE

Swarthy

Re: If you want a proper coffee

Raw beans smell like lentils.

I wonder if how they'd be in a soup.

Swarthy

I do believe that 'flat white' is cafe au lait, which is brewed coffee & milk. A latte is 1/3 espresso combined with 2/3 steamed milk (may or may not be frothed); a cappuccino is 1/2 espresso and 1/2 steamed and frothed milk.

I personally have been experimenting with a light roast espresso, and have been quite happy so far.

Lawsuit claims SpaceX laid off hundreds without proper notice, pay

Swarthy
WTF?

It does seem hard to spin it as lay-offs if they (SpaceX) are still hiring. On the other hand, sacking 5-10% of the work force as firing under-performers does strain credulity.

I would love to jump on here and defend SpaceX, lambasting the plaintiffs with much vitriol and frothing at the mouth, but I need more information before I can develop an informed rant.

Brit kids match 45-year-old fogies' tech skill level by the age of 6

Swarthy

Re: As a budding old fogey

I wouldn't make a habit of it, but it is something I think I'll try once, one of these days.

Help Australia's PM and attorney-general to define metadata

Swarthy

Re: Bad poll

I was hoping for something a bit more in the "where should they store it" question. Something along the lines of "They can stick it up their arse!"

The Register editorial job ad

Swarthy

Re: I might have been interested until I saw who wrote the pitch

Erm.. Probably because he's The Editor, so he'd be the one hiring the writers?

Nice computers don’t need to go to the toilet, says Barclays

Swarthy

Re: Computers don't need to go to the toilet?

Much like a toddler, a computer doesn't go to the toilet - it just shits itself where it is.

Boffins spot weirder quantum capers as neutrons take the high road, spin takes the low

Swarthy

Re: Great attempt at explaining the unexplainable

More than Once.

Bad back? Show some spine and stop popping paracetamol

Swarthy
Childcatcher

Re: Never ran into paracetamol.

"You have a bad chair, you might as well lie on the floor and have your kids use your back as a judo practice target. Nothing better than getting a chair configured to fit correctly."

Odd, when my back acts up, that is how I get relief, having the (small) children jump on it and use it as a judo(-ish) practice target.

Reg Latin scholars scrap over LOHAN's stirring motto

Swarthy

Re: An Old Favorite

Carpe Puellae

Or

Carpe Pecunium

New BOMB detect-o-tech 'could give sniffer dogs competition': TRUE

Swarthy

Re: Curious about the dogs

As I recall, Drugs dogs do well opposed to bomb dogs because the dogs are actually addicted to the drug(s) they are sniffing for. This is why they have a short working life.

I'm guessing the cancer detection came up as part of Canis Lupis to help them ID the sick prey, and also avoid the possibly dangerous bits.

The bomb-sniffing just doesn't have the evolutionary edge that cancer has, or the motivation of needing their next fix that drug-sniffing has. All it has going for it is the "nose thing".

Unbridled BONKING and rampant ROGERING at YOUR office!

Swarthy
Trollface

"Sickening and Obscene" button in Instagram

I thought all of the images on Instagram were "Sickening and Obscene", no button needed - Just a decent eye for photographic quality and a sensitive stomach. I find Instagram in general to be a perversion of photography.

That stirring LOHAN motto: Anyone know a native Latin speaker?

Swarthy
Pirate

Re: and this is why...

"Latin's a dead language

Dead as dead can be.

First it killed the Romans

And now it's killing me."

Writing about an Australian Snowden would land Vulture South in the clink

Swarthy
Coat

Well, That's AUS off the list

Is there ANY decent technological country where English is a primary/common language that isn't going down the shitter; preferably with a coffee-drinking culture? I'm looking for where to go in 5-10 years. Switzerland looks promising, but the cost of living seems a tad high.

British cops cuff 660 suspected paedophiles

Swarthy

Re: for some definition of paedophile...(@Ivan 4)

Really? I was thinking it was Claire Perry.

Listen: WORST EVER customer service call – Comcast is 'very embarrassed'

Swarthy
Devil

Having once dealt with Comcast

I can believe this. They were loathe to let me cancel my 'service' two weeks after signing up, apparently "It doesn't work, never has, and your engineers never showed up to fix it" wasn't quite a good enough reason to cancel.

Then they tried to bill me $500 for the Engineer Callout.

Oracle: You wanted SQL on Hadoop? How about SQL on Hadoop and SQL ON NOSQL?

Swarthy
Joke

It is tempting to use a proper SQL language

...When do you think Oracle will implement one?

Child diagnosed as allergic to iPad

Swarthy

Re: Plastic cases

I remember a trend about five to ten years back, where a lot of personal computing goods were being made with bamboo casings. I rather liked that trend, but I guess the bamboo didn't hold up to the constant handling, or the economy of forming metal/plastic is much better than the economy of forming wood/bamboo.

Flaw in Google's Dropcam sees it turned into SPYCAM

Swarthy

Stating the Obvious

"If someone has physical access, it's pretty much game over,"

-Maxim of Computer Security since Time Immemorial (the 1960's)

Canuck reader threatens suicide over exact dimensions of SPAAAACE!

Swarthy

Re: Shmoptional

But that is only one star, and space contains many. Surely it is SP****CE, or as we don't know how many: SP(*+)CE.

What the world needs now is... a Bluetooth-enabled baby's dummy

Swarthy

Meh

I can see the good things about this, mainly being that it will be easier to get a child's temp from a pacifier. I usually used ear-canal thermometers on the sprogs, as they can (sometimes) get the temp before the wee spawn wriggle lose. I can also see it being useful for an illness to track the temp, to know when the antipyretic has kicked in.

I can also see overly nervous parents using this obsessively and neurotically to constantly monitor for "early signs of illness" and driving themselves insane with worry over every quarter-degree variation. (factoid: A fever of up to 39.5C/103F will not do lasting damage, and is only doing its job. Above that is when it's time to worry).

The "find me" feature is a beautiful idea.

Swarthy

Re: Well Kirstin...

I wouldn't think that it qualifies as HIPAA data being just a time/temperature, as it will measure the temp of your tea (see comments above) as well as the baby.

If it were programmable to the point where it had the child's name, or any personal Identifier, it may cross into HIPAA territory.

What's your game, Google? Giant collared by UK civil lib minister on 'right to be forgotten'

Swarthy

A nomination for Quote of The Week

"[D]iverting money is normal Government business." - One of the only clear and true things to come out of a politician.

Yes, I know, taken out of context and all; but still a beautiful soundbite.

Would it be bad if the Amazon rainforest was all farms? Well it was, once

Swarthy
WTF?

Re: Sahara etc

I'm pretty sure the karst landscape of the Burren is an artifact of glaciation. It would be ...difficult... to justify calling the last (much less any previous) ice age man-made.

Cyber-Senate's cyber-security cyber-law cyber-scares cyber-rights cyber-fighters

Swarthy

Re: Hopeless

"Your just a number in the system."

...Until you're not.

Swarthy

Re: Yet more unconstitutional remedies to unconstitutional treatment

The Federal Gov't is a state (as in "a nation or territory considered as an organized political community under one government."). So that amendment should still apply.

Google buys shagadelic playlist biz Songza

Swarthy

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Web moguls ask YOU to stump up big money to STOP big money from winning in Washington

Swarthy

Re: Farcical and so /very/ dated!

Why the joke alert icon?

Search, done. Ads, done. What next for Google? Domain registration

Swarthy

Re: Monopoly?

"Thirdly they were not rapped on the knuckles, sanctioned or fined for driving business to their other entities, an investigation took place but Google agreed to make changes during that investigation to ensure there would be no implication of illegal activities."

I think having to reform your business to not be illegal, or risk being found to be illegal, counts as a rap on the knuckles.

The key here is that a "Dominant position" counts as a monopoly position. MS was considered a monopoly with Windows. Apple existed, as did Linux, but Windows was the dominant player. When they used that dominant position to drive their browser business, they got into trouble.

Google was a dominant, but not sole, player in search, and still faced anti-trust issues.

I hope that it won't become an anti-trust issue, but with Google, any new web product/service could become an anti-trust issue, because they do have a dominant position in search, and most people find a web product or service via Google.

Swarthy
Headmaster

Re: Monopoly?

Well, it could be a monopoly issue if they use their "dominant position in search to drive business to their (Domain Registration|Travel|Shopping|Mapping) site, discriminating against competitors". As they have been rapped on the knuckles for 3 of the preceding, the OP raises a valid point.

Fearful of the drone-filled skies? Get some protection

Swarthy

Would it take much effort to track altitude? I doubt you'll find many joggers' cell phones at 3+ meters above ground, and not too many drones below.

MIT boffins build 36 core processor with data-traffic smarts

Swarthy
Thumb Up

Re: NUMA

I really want a 36 core chip.

But then I would want a dual- or quad-capable Motherboard. (Octo-capable would be, perhaps, a bit much to ask.)

POTUS promises Trans Pacific Partnership text

Swarthy
Devil

Re: Why wait until mid November?

Because elections are held November 11th. So the "promise" to share the text mid-Nov (a week after the elections) can be interpreted as either:

a) "We know that this will piss people off, but don't want to lose the votes; but we think the secrecy concerns could also lose votes. So we are removing the stigma of secrecy, without revealing the piss-people-off parts until after they've voted."

b) "We'll show it after the elections, when the proles will be tired of electioneering and fed up with politics and no-one will care, or listen to the few that do."

And/Or

c) "We'll 'promise' to show the documentation after the elections, so we won't lose votes when we don't."

Google spaffs $50 MILLION on 'get girls coding' campaign

Swarthy

Re: Made with Code*

A website that showcases *stuff* made with code.. The Pirate Bay?

Swarthy
Joke

Re: Encouragement?

I thought everyone liked my fedora....

EU probe into Apple's taxes: It's NOT to do with double-Dutch-Irish anything sandwiches

Swarthy
Flame

Re: sorry but....

Why on earth would you fancy "a change of bean" from a good Brazilian (the Brazilian Yellow Bourbon is an amazing bean) to Starbucks? If you want a change of pace, just detour a trip through Costa Rica and grab some of their coffee, or for a completely different bean, try some Balinese.

...Or just get what ever beans, douse 'em in Napthaline and light it. Still better (and cheaper) than Starbucks.

Google: Why should we pay tax when we make 'intangibles'?

Swarthy

Re: Gmail is out

The OP was asking for tips about search that is as good as Google, which discounts Bing, and is not Google, which discounts Yahoo!.

DuckDuckGo, is a good suggestions, and I have heard good things about Ixquick, but they may count as Google, as they are a meta-search.

Tech talk bloke compares girlfriend to irritating Java tool – did he deserve flames?

Swarthy

instead of "Clingy Girlfriend"

He could have just used "My Ex" and left it at that.