Posts by Paul RND*1000

I guess the whole point is to deliver the same results as Google without all the crap.

Though lately I'm having a hell of a time thinking of reasons why delivering the same results as Google is even a good idea.

@Ken

Perhaps it *should* be the case. I for one am getting mighty sick of suspect patents which should never have been granted in the first place being successfully used to create an income because it's cheaper to pay the licensing fee than to fight it in court and risk having a judge not realize how crappy the patent is.

Notice how the patent trolls typically go after the little guys first, when possible. They're much more likely to roll over; better to pay the troll than risk being beaten to death and thrown off the bridge. Once enough of them have settled and pay licensing it gives some sense of validity to the patent for when they face potential licensees who *can* afford to get into a legal battle. "Why yes our patent is good yer 'onor, lookit all these companies which agreed to pay us for its use". It becomes much harder to prove the invalidity of the bad patent.

That IMO is an even worse precedent.

In a system where a bad patent being struck down leaves the patent holder on the hook for refunding license fees, patent trolls and abusers would have a hell of a time continuing their practices knowing that any one of their shonky patents could spell disaster.

Of course the real solution to this would be to make sure that only patent-worthy ideas actually get patents granted. Then it would become reasonable to assume good intent by the patent holder, as opposed to how things are now where there is clearly a great deal of malicious intent involved in patenting.

"A particular user may have a half-dozen gmail addresses to keep various activities separated and to ensure privacy."

Anyone involving a Gmail address with anything where privacy is called for is just asking for trouble. I use Gmail for my main email (which is largely dull and boring), but if I needed a second email with actual privacy expectations, I'd stay well away from it.

"Is Google going to do anything stupid"

History would suggest "yes".

"suddenly and publically link all these e-mail addresses [and blogs] to each other"

I certainly wouldn't rely on them not doing so, extradoubleplus so if my reputation or life depended on them staying unconnected.

The red Angry Bird hitched a ride into space recently too.

"And is it just me, or does "frictionless sharing" sound like something dodgy you'd do with a tube of KY?"

Close, it's what Facebook keep doing to it's users with a tube of KY.

@intractable postherd

"Mandatory wearing of a seatbelt is an infraction of personal liberties with no effect on third parties"

I do agree that, if someone is dumb enough to drive without a seatbelt while alone in their vehicle, that's their choice. In my car, it's mandatory.

Ever seen an unsecured 200+lb adult take flight from a rear seat with a surprised look on their face, demolish the front seat and bounce off the inside of the windshield? I have, and that was merely a well-executed emergency stop from 30mph or so (some dumb kid ran into the road in front of me). If the third party I'd just dropped off 30 seconds earlier had been in that front seat, they'd have been properly effed up.

Since then, I don't move until everyone's belted up, law or no law. If they feel like they're having their liberties infringed, they can fuck off out of the car and ponder them while they walk home.

"Using man doesn't suggest a newbie admin to me"

Nor me. It suggests someone who is being careful not to fuck up a task which could leave the machine inaccessible. I've consulted manpages for commands I consider myself familiar with in situations where a small mistake could cause ruinous consequences.

On the other hand, not knowing that EXT3 leaves traces or that bash by default leaves a history log, those do suggest that they weren't all that. Unless they intentionally left *misleading* traces, that is.

I was going to suggest that they were taking the Barnes and Noble approach, namely "we don't really care if you root our Nook, you already paid us for it, we're all good". But if Amazon are taking a loss on each Fire sold with the intention of making money on the services, I don't see where it makes any sense to tolerate rooting.

Apparently not (might have been too much weight), though "Curiosity" will be carrying a weather station with it.

I was sort of thinking that myself, this doesn't really seem to be NASA's department. Though they undoubtedly have some rock-huggers on the payroll, it's hardly their primary remit.

Unfortunately the bloody marketers are rather better at manipulating what we get to know. Which is exactly why they're marketers.

Perhaps they lead them in to a special area one at a time, while soothing classical music wafts into their ears. The other cows remain blissfully unaware of what's going on.

Sadly I don't anticipate being able to test the "it tastes better" theory any time soon, my budget barely stretches past sort-of fresh roadkill.

Occupy Infinite Loop?

Seriously, Apple. Your product doesn't suck and you don't need to act like Bad Microsoft to prop it up by squishing any viable competition with your legal department scumbags. As a consumer, I want choice and I don't smile upon companies which go out of their way to take that choice away by anti-competitive means.