* Posts by Tom 38

4341 publicly visible posts • joined 21 Jul 2009

EARTH was a BAKING LIFELESS DESERT for 5 MILLION years

Tom 38

Sensational extrapolation

It was damn hot in South China - where-ever the fuck that was at the time - at that point, but that tells us little or nothing about the planet globally. Perhaps that part of Pangea was more like an extreme version of Yellowstone at that point.

HSBC websites fell in DDoS attack last night, bank admits

Tom 38
FAIL

Re: I don't need no bloody DDoS, I've got a SecureKey which ...

Sorry, your IP for your session was flapping between Hong Kong and (another unspecified country), and you think HSBC are the twats for logging you out?

French cops cuff man over €500K Android Trojan scam

Tom 38
Stop

I don't get these scams. To benefit, you have to collect from the premium rate revenues, which surely leads directly to you - as this witless twunt found out.

Do you use a patsy to collect the profits before scarpering, or fake identities? Either way, seems likely to get nabbed.

Education Secretary Gove: Tim Berners-Lee 'created the INTERNET'

Tom 38
FAIL

What is worse?

A politician who doesn't know the difference between the Internet and the WWW, or a tech site that doesn't know the difference between the Internet and the internet.

The hoarder's dilemma, or 'Why can't I throw anything away?'

Tom 38

I have 8 PCI-X SAS HBAs just sitting in anti static bags in a box in the corner of the room, and not a single motherboard with PCI-X. Occasionally I throw a blanket over the disaster area that is my tech dumping ground and pretend it's not really there..

Morse! Shoved! Out of! Yahoo! Beneath! Giant! Golden! Parachute!

Tom 38

Re: So

$4 billion in revenue doesn't just appear.

Tom 38

Re: So

We could slash the earnings of our top 5% by 10% to make back this loss, and still keep all our staff hired

See, that sounds so tempting, doesn't it? Unfortunately, if you tell your high performing sales staff that their commission is going down 5%, they'll just leave.

Insider 'fesses up: Amazon's Glacier cloud is made of ... TAPE

Tom 38
Pint

Re: I have wondered that ...

When I think of the shit I did at Uni to keep me in beer, petrol and fags, a gig wearing that outfit looks positively fantastic.

Theresa May gets a smile out of Gary McKinnon at last

Tom 38
FAIL

@Aqua Marina

No, that is not what the DPP said. You are paraphrasing, and missing the crux of what they said:

The CPS has maintained throughout that the appropriate jurisdiction for prosecuting Mr McKinnon is the United States. There is insufficient evidence available in the UK to try Mr McKinnon for the totality of his alleged offending.

CPS thought that in order to try him fully for everything the US accused him of, he would need to be tried in the US. Now that the jurisdiction has been unanimously stated, they can prosecute whatever they do have evidence for (and certainly will; not extraditing is one thing, but not extraditing and then not prosecuting is something altogether different).

Tom 38

Re: Human rights act

The way my old man explained it to me is that in the UK, we have privileges and not rights. As good citizens, we get privilege to do certain things. If we cease being good citizens, those privileges cease as well.

I think he may have just been trying to get me to mow the lawn tbh, but this spells out how most right of centre people would like things to be.

A lesser-known new feature in iOS 6: It's tracking you everywhere

Tom 38

Re: @A/C 10:13

[I] wondered how if it is randomly generated it is guaranteed unique?

They use this cool new thing called Mathematics and generate a random huge number, from a range so big that collisions are not only unlikely, but you could have millions of devices generating millions of ids per second, and you would still have to wait a bloody long time for a collision to occur.

I don't know how Apple generate IFA, but a UUID is similar. If you generate 1 billion random UUIDs per second, after 100 years the chance of generating even one duplicate is only 50%. A UUID is only 128 bits (and only 122 are significant), if they used 256 bit numbers they would have even more space.

Valve's Half-Life

Tom 38

Re: Absolute classic

Big thumbs up to Dungeon Master, best game ever. It took me 4 weeks to fight my way through back from halfway through level 4 (the one where the worms first appear), with just my feeble wizard Tiggy carrying the bones of the other 3 all the way back to level 2's resurrection altar. Lots of running and hiding, drive by fireballs and hack n slash - by the time she got through, she was about 4 levels higher as a fighter than my fighters!

'Hypersensitive' Wi-Fi hater loses case against fiendish DEVICES

Tom 38
Boffin

@Grikath

There is plenty of evidence that the vertebrate body is sensitive to various forms of EM emissions, and not necessarily through specially adapted organs like the eye.

Plenty of evidence eh? Not just an internet feedback machine? Share some..

There is also pretty conclusive evidence that living directly in a high-power EM field is decidedly unhealthy over prolongued periods and during the formative phases of the nervous system.

Getting better - we now have conclusive evidence.

Could you be troubled by radiation from cell towers? Possibly, if you hug them, or are stupid enough to stand directly in front of them in the beam path.

Citation? I've seen plenty of studies that say the 'electromagnetically sensitive' are no better at detecting EM fields than flipping a coin.

mucking around with hormones eleoctrolyte balance in a vertrebate body

Please stop abusing the scientist icon.

Tom 38

Re: Let's make everyone happy

I have a new policy of not mocking people for curious and strange beliefs, as I feel that someday I will be an angry old man moaning about the wifi-leakage from the blasted tablets.

Anyhow, he could have saved some time and simply moved if it really affected him that much. There is a lovely part of West Virginia near Green Bank that should suit him.

McKinnon will not be extradited to the US, says Home Secretary

Tom 38
Go

Re: Right decision for the wrong reason

The "special relationship" seems more about us going off to help the US fight wars than anything genuinely useful. We will always have a 'special relationship' with the US regardless of politicians, shared history and language will always encourage business, we don't need to kow tow to these jarheads.

Affected by ebook price-fixing? Amazon has a few shiny pennies for you

Tom 38

Got to love a global world

When I first started buying books on Kindle, you could only buy from the US store. So I did. Definitely bought books from those publishers during that time period from the US store, but I guess overcharging forinners is A OK.

Microsoft launches ad-funded Xbox Music audio streaming

Tom 38

Also "unlimited streaming"

With no mention of 'caching'. With Spotify, the main thing is being able to 'stream+cache' entire playlists so I can 'stream' them where ever I am.

Spotify even allows you to fill holes in their coverage with your own MP3s, and in most cases will happily even provide album art.

NURSES' natural DESIRES to be SATISFIED, by technology

Tom 38
Thumb Up

Re: Technology for technology's sake@Charlie Clark

Yar, the hardest thing to do ever is to get power back, which is really what the Tories are trying to do right now. Course, you can;t say that because the people currently with power like to keep it, so there has to be some magic trick with new terminology.

Anyway, the net result should be larger regional bodies, run by doctors, doing what is required to make a health service, not fulfil box ticking statisticians in Whitehall. If only that is what we would ultimately get :/

Political parties are easy to predict. The conservatives want everything to work, but don't want to be in charge of it, responsible for it, or change anything too drastically. If they could get out of paying for it as well, that would be gravy.

The Labour party want to improve everyone's lives by working out precisely what is required of everyone, measuring how and what each and every one of us is doing, and legislate to measure us.

The failing of both is that they invariably go too far to the extreme.

Tom 38

Re: Technology for technology's sake

Tories == increased paper work?

Think you are mixing up your political parties. The explosion in metrics, measurement and bureaucracy happened when Labour started spending increasingly insane amounts on the NHS. Labour wanted numbers to beat the opposition with, with league tables for everything to demonstrate how much more their spending was doing. Everything must have a KPI.

This, combined with the introduction of hundreds of PCTs, is what has increased the bureaucracy from that of the early 90s. Even Labour thought that many PCTs was wasteful, they halved them in 2005..

Free games for all after EA discount code goes viral

Tom 38
Thumb Up

EA fucked by consumers

It's one of those endearingly backwards headlines, like "Man bites dog".

Spiceheads keep Austin weird at IT's Comic Con

Tom 38
Thumb Up

Spiceworld

My favourite bit in Spiceworld is when the girls get to the Albert Hall and run up the steps to the Rocky theme, it's so emotional it really cracks me up.

Swiss photographer sues Apple for pilfering her eyeball

Tom 38

Re: "All Aplle had to do was just put on some various strokes and an uncopyrighted face"

I very much doubt this was "We're Apple, we can do whatever we want". If you've ever worked with anyone from marketing, they really don't get anything other than "ooh look, pretties". They made some comps using this image, showed it to someone higher up in marketing who just looooved it, and then it went on from there. It is marketing 101 behaviour.

Boffins baffled: HUGE EYEBALL washes up on Florida beach

Tom 38
Alert

Evidently came from a Giant Octopus, the attacker was a Mega Shark

Googorola yoinks Android mobes off German shelves

Tom 38

Re: What I never got

Standards patents are often valuable solely because they are part of a standard, which is why FRAND pools were invented.

Warner Music daddy chucks €130m at Spotify rival Deezer

Tom 38

Re: And like Spotify, new sign-ups need a Facebook account.

Me too. Spotify stopped working under Wine when they added 'social' features; I think Wine has a taste filter that prevents it from running.

10 million iPad minis to 'outshine' their big brother this quarter

Tom 38

Re: Not buying it

The only "wow" factor any phone or tablet had was that it was a powerful computer that I can sit in my pocket and use for an entire day without looking for a power brick.

That happened with the original smartphones, the latest technologies added slightly more speed so everything happened a bit quicker, but there hasn't been a 'wow' since then.

I can talk to my phone, and it understands? No shit, it's a computer. I can do turn by turn navigation on it? No shit, it's a computer.

I'm struggling to understand what people were expecting these newer devices to do. They're simply better/newer/smaller/larger/cheaper versions of what we already have. Expecting this to change everything (again) is simply hype and nonsense.

4K vs OLED: and the winner is...

Tom 38

Re: First question

In most situations can't tell a difference between HD & SD unless I am looking for it.

Really really? Its as obvious as the nose on my face when I'm watching SD and when I'm watching HD..

Tom 38

Re: 4k Monitors

4k aint there yet, but there are plenty of cheap 2560x1440 panels around, and for not much more, 2560x1600.

Eg, DGM IPS-2701 is £300, Hazro HZ27WB £315, Dell UltraSharp U2713HM £480, Samsung S27A850D £475, yadda yadda. (all +VAT)

New questions raised over Kim Dotcom snooping

Tom 38

Re: I'm confused...

I don't think that's weird. I play FPS on the same few servers, and know - approximately - the route from me to them. If one day I'm playing on that server, and my ping is 50 ms higher than it usually is, I would fire off a traceroute to see wtf is going on, and would notice 3 extra hops that weren't there before.

Google Wallet: Rub our button, cough 15p for quick read

Tom 38
Go

…publishers that sell "premium digital content that's superior to the free alternatives"

Porn.

HP UK veep Murphy volunteers to jump ship amid staff cuts

Tom 38
Headmaster

Murphy, who joined HP in April 2011 months after resigning from his position as UK chief at HDS

Wow, normally I only leave it a few weeks between jobs, this guy took 167½ years off.

$3500 will get 13.3in Mac tablet in your mitts

Tom 38
WTF?

@melt

$3499 (£2172), which is $1199 for the 2.5GHz, 4GB MacBook Pro and $973 for parts and assembly

3499 != 1199 + 973

2172 == 1199 + 973

$2172 = £1348

Googorola mysteriously pulls plug on ITC Apple patent probe

Tom 38
Headmaster

Re: Manfromarsitis.

EQ is a similar measurement to IQ, which measures emotional rather than intellectual development. You can have a high IQ and a low EQ, meaning that you are smart, but a total twat.

I think this guy meant IQ though.

Microsoft releases JavaScript alternative

Tom 38
FAIL

Re: What...

It's not even close to the same principle:

GCC compiles C++ straight to object code.

Debugging C++ using GDB or similar does not have you examining some generated C code, you step through C++ statements.

Python does not 'generate intermediary C code', it generates python bytecode which runs on a singly specified C python interpreter.

clang++ does translate C++ to C prior to compiling it to object code, but it translates it to only be compiled by clang - it does not generate C which it expects icc, gcc or bcc to compile.

A frontend generating code to be used by it's coupled backend == good, a frontend generating code to be used by unrelated backends that do not strictly conform to any standards == bad. Do you need diagrams, or have you got it yet?

And yes, it is a real fucking pain in the arse when you write valid python code, run it on the python interpreter, and end up having to debug the python interpreter. Fortunately, this almost never happens, since the bytecode compiler and the interpreter are tightly coupled. which they aren't in TypeScript.

So perhaps there is some use for this tool. Some flawed minds can seemingly only cope with "OOP == Java" mindset, and this allows them to master the difficulties that are javascript. Or for those shops that previously would use a nice ActiveX control to ensure lock in, here is another bit of technology that will make your clients either come back to only you for improvements, or re-do the entire project from scratch. I was too harsh! And you can do it in an IDE?! Whatever will these clever guys think of next.

Tom 38
FAIL

Re: What...

Utter tosh. You can develop class based JS applications perfectly fine in JS right now, no external tools required.

Personally, I don't think developing in an IDE is the epitome of sophistication, I don't think compiling one language into another interpreted language* that runs on a variety of interpreters is a particularly effective way of mastering incompatibilities between those interpreters, and I definitely will not want ever to debug javascript issues emanating from auto generated code.

I'll pass on your ad hominem quips; I develop daily in C, C++ and Python, thankfully haven't had to use anything Java related in 12 years.

* However, when the language compiled to is only used as an intermediate, and immediately re-compiled against a single backend, this is an exceptionally good pattern. For instance, clang++ will first translate C++ into C, which is then immediately compiled into object code.

Tom 38

Re: What...

It's a library that compiles code to javascript. If you have ever worked seriously with javascript, getting code you've written yourself to work correctly across all major browsers is a pain in the arse.

Getting javascript code that has been written by a machine to work correctly across all major browsers is going to be a pain in the arse that repeats every time you change the original 'TypeScript' and recompile.

Besides which, we all know javascript by now. It's not that hard to write unobtrusive, elegant JS, so why stick an obfuscation layer in between?

Ubuntu 12.10: More to Um Bongo Linux than Amazon ads

Tom 38
Trollface

Oxymoron

"Tech savvy Linux users" and "Ubuntu".

Tom 38
Headmaster

Re: I have gone to Mint KDE

Am I alone in thinking the unity desktop looks aweful with or without Amazon.

Do you mean "appalling; terrible" or "inspiring awe; profoundly impressive"?

Satellite broadband rollout for all in US: But Europe just doesn't get it

Tom 38
WTF?

What happened to Low Earth Orbit broadband?

Good question.

Also what happened to WiMax?

Good question.

Let's face it, the UK is corrupt and there will never be competition beyond Virgin and BT Wholesale.

Bat-shit insane non sequitur.

iPhone 5: the fab slab to grab

Tom 38

TBH, Colchester has never looked so good.

WTF is... NFC

Tom 38

Re: It's not too bad

Well, you would be wrong. It happens to me every day, queuing up in Eat behind people paying for stuff with card - contactless or otherwise. It's miles slower than cash.

Cash: Here's a fiver, here's your change, I'm gone.

Card: Tap it where? Oh, ok. Wait, that one didn't work, try again. Its authorizing... Ok.

Cash is always negotiable, has no barrier to acceptance, and is accepted worldwide.

Tom 38

Re: It's not too bad

All of these payment options take longer than giving the guy a fiver. They have machines now you can go up to, stick your card in and get cash instantly, and you can get enough of it in one go that you can give it to other people in return for services for several days.

Works for me. Plus, no-one is analysing what you spend your cash on.

Euro watchdog to charge Microsoft on web browser choice boob

Tom 38
FAIL

Re: EU should look into others

No, Apple do not have a monopoly on tablets. A monopoly would mean that you could not easily go out and buy a non Apple tablet, which is clearly nonsense.

Tom 38
FAIL

Re: EU should look into others

Surely that has to be even more anti competitive?

So the fuck what? Apple do not have a monopoly on phones, they don't even have a monopoly on smart phones, and they particularly don't have a monopoly on PCs. Anti-competitive behaviour is only disallowed when you use your monopoly position to provide it.

A company only allowing the OS that it made to be sold with hardware that it also made is not monopolistic, nor is it anti-competitive.

I'm just waiting to see how the EU deals with Windows RT not even allowing other browsers at all. Ha, should be funny.

Well, guess what? They will do nothing about it, due to, y'know, no monopoly in tablets. It's quite straightforward, if you aren't clueless.

Draft UK libel law forces websites to axe mudslinging comments

Tom 38
WTF?

Re: Actually, for once...

In theory, in the UK, this could get me sued for libel, as unlike in the US, the truth is not an absolute defence against libel

I'd return your law degree, fair comment has always been a defence in the UK against both libel and slander, along with justification and privilege. What you said about Nick Clegg was both justified and fair comment.

Apple MacBook Air 13in review

Tom 38

Re: External storage

I doubt HP get away with a 40%+ mark up these days. Ditto Lenovo, Dell etc.

Dell's prices are public record, go buy a Dell branded hard disk.

CPS grovels after leaking IDs of hundreds arrested during student riots

Tom 38
Headmaster

Re: Demonstrations or Riots -- AC 08:51 GMT

What a 'riot' is under the law is irrelevant here, unless you are charging someone with a crime. Here, the word used was 'riot', and here is the context:

a hundred people who were arrested during the tuition-fee riots

We are not being asked to judge whether the people where rioters, only if a riot was taking place. Thus, we are not bound by legal definitions of a riot, and are simply bound by the meaning of the word riot - which does not reference any laws or statutes.

A wiktionary definition, which is all I can be arsed to look up, says Wanton or unrestrained behavior; uproar; tumult.. As an observer of the scenes in question, I would personally qualify what has happened as a riot.

The legal definition of a riot is only pertinent if you intend to take action under the law (reading the riot act, so to speak).

Guardian's Robin Hood plan: Steal from everyone to give to us

Tom 38

Re: An ode to down votes

I've up voted your down vote :)

Tom 38
Alert

An ode to down votes

Down-votes actually engender more conversation (and hence posts/views) than up-votes. Up-votes avoid boring "+1" or "Me too" posts, but down-votes often come with a vitriolic response explaining precisely how and why you are completely stupid - AND SO IT BEGINS.

Most discussions about the iphone would normally peter out after 2 or 3 posts, but someone is guaranteed to post something like "lol Samsung smokes cock", which magically grants life to the thread. Down-votes are like deep sea black smokers, bringing life into a desolate landscape.

Tech budgets in schools heading north again

Tom 38
Facepalm

I hope the former, given track records of Heads not grasping when HP is a rip-off:

Liz Steel, former head of Glemsford Primary School in Suffolk, was one of the victims of mis-selling firms. Her school was left owing more than £500,000 for 125 laptops.

She said: "When the auditor came in, supposedly to count the equipment, he just sat down and told us that it was a colossal scam. And it was like my world had just fallen apart."

Ms Steel had signed the deal after being told the school could lease as many laptops as necessary and, because of corporate sponsorship, would not have to pay for them.

( source )

The key ingredient in every scam is a stupid mark who thinks they can get something for less than it is worth, and believe anything as long as they think it will lead to that fairytale.