* Posts by Marcus Aurelius

521 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Sep 2009

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Google’s dot-com forget-me-not bomb: EU court still aiming at giant

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Geo-location?

Because if Google does start doing this, I'm going to be using a US proxy to carry out all my searches.

Apple CEO Tim Cook: My well-known gayness is 'a gift from God'

Marcus Aurelius
Go

Gift from God

It did come from God Steve Jobs. He wouldn't be a gay CEO if Steve had not declared him as His Prophet and Head of His Church, to remain on Earth and to carry on His Mighty Works....

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

I felt a great disturbance in the Force

As if a million homophobic iPhone users suddenly cried out in horror and were silenced...

UK.gov rushes out broken 'Orphan Works' system as EU Directive comes in

Marcus Aurelius
FAIL

Re: A rough-shod coach and 4

I don't think anyone in IT likes either patents or copyright.

Patents in IT are a farce and copyright duration is far too long.

Banksy denies Banksy impostor's claim to Banksy.com – which isn't owned by Banksy

Marcus Aurelius
Holmes

Making a false statement?

Is WIPO a court or not? There are a whole string of very serious criminal charges that can be thrown against you if you lie to a proper court, even in civil cases.

El Reg spends One Night in Hell with Queen's Brian May

Marcus Aurelius
Coat

Will it be

...an owl-ing success?

GCHQ staff 'would sooner walk' than do anything 'resembling mass surveillance’

Marcus Aurelius
Boffin

Not walking

I suspect a lot of advances in internet surveillance have been techies going "Wouldn't be cool if we could do this" instead of considering the long term implications of performing the action.

HUGE SHARK as big as a WWII SUBMARINE died out, allowing whales to exist

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

Just imagine

...a few of those with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads.

Forget the $2499 5K iMac – today we reveal Apple's most expensive computer to date

Marcus Aurelius
Flame

Re: How much?

I always regard it as a crying shame that the IBM PC wasn't based on the 68k. I've never liked AX, BX, CX etc and the fact you could only do certain operations with specific registers.

Google+ goes TITSUP. But WHO knew? How long? Anyone ... Hello ...

Marcus Aurelius
Coat

Re: Titsup

Tits down is situation normal for many of us. If our tits were pointed up, that would indicate one hell of a bra malfunction.

I would have thought the reverse. The purpose of a bra is to keep the tits supported, or "up" in other words. Only if the tits were down could the bra be said to have malfunctioned.

Marcus Aurelius
Headmaster

Titsup

What I want to know is why being "titsup" is so bad? Ignoring the possible gender based stereotyping for a moment, I would have thought that "titsdown" would be a more apposite expression....especially considering "up" is a well understood term for operational and "down" is an equally well understood term for non-operational (system is down, aircraft is down etc.)

Ex-US Navy fighter pilot MIT prof: Drones beat humans - I should know

Marcus Aurelius
FAIL

Didcot B

Well, maybe Didcot B is now somewhat beyond the salvation offered by gaffer tape, but that's probably because the owners didn't use enough of it in the first place.

The big mistake was not to get MacGyver to apply the duct tape...

No sail: NASA spikes Sunjammer

Marcus Aurelius
Happy

Re: One for...

What could we name this one?

Doctor Who's Flatline: Cool monsters, yes, but utterly limp subplots

Marcus Aurelius
WTF?

Re: The Register is becoming a bit of a killjoy

Oh come on - we've had "Listen", "Mummy on the Orient Express", "Flatline" and "Time Heist" in descending order of greatness, which makes nearly half of the current series which were highly memorable. I think this is higher than Matt "Fluffy Bunny Doctor" Smiths incarnation. I grant that David Tennant incarnation stands well above the rest, but the series with Capaldi is certainly not lacking.

Marcus Aurelius
WTF?

The Register is becoming a bit of a killjoy

This episode wasn't half bad.

Banksy puts down spray can, goes corporate in banksy.com cybersquat brouhaha

Marcus Aurelius

Gordon Banks wants his domain name back

A certain ex-England goalkeeper has a much better claim

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Banksy-My-Autobiography-Gordon-Banks/dp/0718145828

I didn't invent Bitcoin! Send Bitcoin to help me fight this slur – Dorian Nakamoto

Marcus Aurelius
WTF?

Not a lot he can sue for

Freedom of Speech in the US means that the press/media can say anything they like.

In order to claim damages he'd have to prove it was malicious or similar.

Son of Hudl: Tesco flogs new Atom-powered 8.3-inch Android tablet

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Power Rotate

You would think that rotating it through 180 is the answer, wouldn't you? Unfortunately the prop stand on the standard case is on the same side as the USB connector and on the other long side is the mini-HDMI connector for plugging into your telly.

In addition there are also a few Android apps that fail to detect which way is up. Amazingly a flight sim (Winds of Steel) happens to be one of them!

Marcus Aurelius
Happy

Re: My opinion of the device...

Mrs Aurelius also bought one of these devices. After using a large frying pan and pliers to assist in removing her firm grip from the device, I can also attest that it is stunning value for money.

It feels lighter than the original Hudl, which is solid enough to use as a club in an emergency.

In short, if you need a tablet and especially if you have some Tescos vouchers, run as fast as you can to get one of these devices.

Finnish PM: Apple has DESTROYED FINLAND

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

Re: "The Finnish language is difficult, especially if you are trying to make yourself sound sexy"

Maybe you have just hit on a new potential Finnish export.

Marcus Aurelius
WTF?

Why not blame Microsoft

Elop was virtually parachuted in, made unfortunate comments and decisions, sold out Nokia to Microsoft, which promptly sucked its victim dry like a spider with its prey. I fail completely to see how Apple are to blame.

AndroidScript returns to Google Play Store: Ad giant YIELDS TO THE MIGHT OF EL REG

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Droid®Script

Trademarks (should) have narrow scope, so Droids in the mobile phone(TM) sense would be different from Droids(TM) in the cinematic sense.

Re-light my diode: Trio of boffins scoop physics Nobel for BLUE LEDs

Marcus Aurelius
Stop

Reducing Electricity Consumption???

I love our new LED light emitting overlords, and indeed my entire house is now filament and flourescent free (I might have missed the fridge light) but the one thing I can confidently say it won't do is reduce energy consumption. There will just simply be more lights (and light pollution), and more TV displays (I have 5 if you include computers, not counting laptops)

There will just be more people with hideous Christmas light decorations on their front garden, and they'll run from October to March.

£150m, three years... TWO base stations. Gov.uk? You guessed it

Marcus Aurelius

No but I do need Google Maps to periodically tell me which lane I'm lost in this time and where the nearest pub is, and whether its a good pub or has closed down due to being a rathole.

Google ordered to tear down search results from its global dotcom by French court

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Google should get a declaratory judgement

Page Rank is Googles name for their ranking system.

Marcus Aurelius
Pirate

Google should get a declaratory judgement

From a US court that all their search content on a US site is protected free speech unless determined otherwise by a US court.

Doctor Who becomes an illogical, unscientific, silly soap opera in Kill The Moon

Marcus Aurelius
Alien

Is the Register turning into a Doctor Who fanzine

I'm sure it didn't give an episode by episode critique of any of the last series.

I'm preferring Peter Capaldi over Matt Smith, who sucked in comparison to the awesomeness of David Tennant, but I agree the plots are a little on the patchy side. "Listen" however was up there with "Blink".

The thing is Doctor Who has so many aspects and has to appeal to all those aspects. There are the people who expect the traditional opponents and there are those who want new ones. It has to appeal to kids and also appeal to its huge adult fanbase. There are some people who want sci-fi rigor and those who are aware that it just ain't gonna happen. It can't possibly do everything within one episode and therefore you can only hope that the series as a whole satisfies.

Man brings knife to a gun fight and WINS

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

Not a one horse town

It is a one Jumbo town

Our Vultures peck at new Doctor Who: Exterminate or, er ... carrion?

Marcus Aurelius
Go

Boo Who

Matt Smith wasn't a really good Doctor IMO. It was partly because he had an incredibly hard act to follow in David Tennant.

Also Karen Gillan was good eye candy but a bit lacklustre in the character/ personality department. Jenna Coleman manages to sparkle more but I do think she is let down a little by the scripts which are overall good (especially Listen), but don't give her a satisfying part.

Peter Capaldi has been a pleasant surprise after Matt Smith. A more serious and abrasive character, yet able to carry off the comedy well.

WHY did Sunday Mirror stoop to slurping selfies for smut sting?

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Public Interest Macintyre V Associated Newspapers (Boris Johnson/ Daily Mail)

The Macintyre case did not really involve Boris Johnson; it was the mother attempting to get an injunction.

However the courts took the view that Boris Johnson sexual proclivities and behaviour were of sufficient public interest to override the privacy rights of third parties; in other words bad behaviour in public office is not a private matter.

What I am attempting to say is that this case gives newspapers wide latitude in the reporting of the private lives of public individuals. Also the paper will no doubt argue that he has used the fact he is "happily married in a great relationship" to get elected and therefore it is a matter of interest if he's been lying.

The Mirror does appear to have been behaving in a bad way, but legally they have a strong case and may be in the clear in terms of any criminal or private actions against them.

Marcus Aurelius
Holmes

Public Interest Re: Macintyre V Associated Newspapers (Boris Johnson/ Daily Mail)

I would be interested to know if the paper published any of the photos sent by the MP and whether that is a breach of his copyright. However, I think the paper has a reasonable Public Interest defence, simply by quoting from the ruling in the above case.

In a ruling that could redraw the privacy rights of public figures in England and Wales, the court of appeal said: "It is not in dispute that the legitimate public interest in the father's character is an important factor to be weighed in the balance against the claimant's expectation of privacy.

"The core information in this story, namely that the father had an adulterous affair with the mother, deceiving both his wife and the mother's partner and that the claimant, born about nine months later, was likely to be the father's child, was a public interest matter which the electorate was entitled to know when considering his fitness for high public office."

They'll have to go to the Supreme Court to overturn this, so it's going to be long winded and expensive.

6 Obvious Reasons Why Facebook Will Ban This Article (Thank God)

Marcus Aurelius

Re: "cancer ruining internet journalism" (@Bill Gray)

The difference is that whilst "extra-marital sex" may be a reality, "extra marital sex" is a complete fantasy

What the 4K: High-def DisplayPort vid meets reversible USB Type C

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

Re: Nirvana

Isn't that when your connector smells like teen spirit?

EU dangles $6bn threat over Google in endless search abuse probe

Marcus Aurelius
Flame

This is a poorly disguised lynching party

.. by its failed competitors.

Even if Google has a monopoly, it has no obligation to direct traffic to its competitors. For example, IBM has never had an obligation to recommend you buy HP.

Google grand fromage Eric Schmidt: Backing climate denier lobby a 'mistake'

Marcus Aurelius
Devil

I'm a little puzzled

Given Google is a high tech company which tries (not always successfully) not to be Evil, how did it support these guys in the first place? Similarly Microsoft.

Every billionaire needs a PANZER TANK, right? STOP THERE, Paul Allen

Marcus Aurelius

Re: take my hat off to those crews

Well actually being alongside a Tiger tank is relatively good, especially if they don't have any infantry support.

It's being in front of one that requires lashings of vodka....

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Panther IVs were the workhorse of the German army

The only reason the Panzer III wins is if you include the Stug-III self-propelled gun/tank-destroyer.

The Panzer-III in basic form was the most numerous German tank in 1941 but by 1943 was out of the front line. Also numerically less were produced (5,000 than the Pzkw IV or Panther. The original idea of the Panzer III being the lead tank backed up by IVs didn't last for a long time in the face of opposition by Grants, Shermans and T-34s

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Picking the nit...

The figures I quoted were for 1941-45 T-34 production only. The Russians also had about 800 T-34s before the start of the war, but lost virtually all of them in the first six months.

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Scotland

I wish them lots of luck when it meets a Challenger 2 or M1 Abrams at the border....

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Picking the nit...

Yes but having the fuel tanks blow up is not a problem. As long as an engineer platoon can pick the tank up and repair it or use it for salvage everyone is happy

What you're really trying to protect in a tank is the crew, so you're trying to prevent crew compartment fires and explosions, and spalling (lumps of metal flying round the crew compartment killing everyone)

Marcus Aurelius
Go

Re: Picking the nit...

The T-34 was a good enough tank, but its abilities were over-rated. The primary advantage of the T-34 was the fact that the Russians made lots of them, but they also lost a lot too. The previous poster mentioned an 8-1 advantage, which was also approximately the kill ratio that the Germans scored against Russian tanks through the war.

Shermans, on the other hand were a much better tank than reported. They were one of the first tanks able to fire accurately on the move. They were a good compromise of speed, gun, armour, reliability and mobility. Their early tendency to blow up was mainly due to ammunition storage issues, which was solved by storing the ammo in the bottom of the tank in water/anti-freeze filled boxes. The Israelis were still using variants of the Sherman up to the 1980s.

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

Re: Scotland

Judging by the reports on how big the Scottish army will be after independence, one tank will be all it needs or can afford.

Marcus Aurelius
Mushroom

Re: Picking the nit...

Panther IVs were the workhorse of the German army through the middle of the war and an adaptable capable vehicle.

Every man and his dog claimed to be fighting Tiger tanks when most of the time it would be Panzer IV or Panthers. Tigers also broke down if you looked at them funny.

Panzer IV: 8,500 approx

Panther: 5-6,000 approx

Tiger I: 1,500 approx

Tiger II: 500 approx

Against this we have

T-34: 35000

T-34/85: 30000

Sherman: 40000-45,000

Bank IT bod accused of stealing $40 MEEELLION from employer

Marcus Aurelius
Devil

Re: Pffft, Amateurs!

I think he used to work for RBS and his name is Sir^H^H^H Fred something or other...

Microsoft buys Minecraft for $2.5bn. Notch: I'm getting the block outta here

Marcus Aurelius

Re: I'm old, I can't see the point in Minecraft

Kids love it and it has cross gender appeal. My 13 year old daughter and her friends spend hours on it.

As an entry point to get a new generation hooked on Microsoft opium, it's perfect provided MS don't screw it up.

Marcus Aurelius
Devil

Re: 0x10c

The question is whether it will ever be completed, assuming Notch has several hundred million to use on more uselful things like yachts and women.....

Phones 4u website DIES as wounded mobe retailer struggles to stay above water

Marcus Aurelius

Re: The key point

That would mean some enterprising chappie could buy the assets of phones4u, do a deal with Vodaphone/EE as they wouldn't have the debt albatross to prevent them, and go back into business...

Lenovorola TRIPLE-ola: New Moto G, Moto X and 360 wristputer UNZIPPED

Marcus Aurelius

I bought a Moto G LTE because it was not a monster phone but good value for the price. I have a Samsung Note and a Tablet anytime size matters (I'm probably going to combine the Note and Tablet into a single device).

What really matters so far as I'm concerned is battery life. Most phones seem to be trying to get very thin. Personally I would be happy with double the thickness if I could get a battery that got me through a working week without trying.

Evil mining firms? Please. Obeying profit motive is KINDER to the environment

Marcus Aurelius

Re: environmental cost

It was an interesting read, but what he's saying is that if no "easy" mineral deposits are found then the price will go back up and they can merrily start reopening Cornish and Czech tin mines.

He's also saying that there are huge resources that probably dwarf anything previously extracted because the real issue was transportation, not ease of extraction, and therefore there is no end of resources for the foreseeable future.

The only place where this may be different is oil/gas and here technologies such as fracking and improved drilling have so far come to help out. The problem with oil and gas of course is that its products are not going to help the environment unless you want a suntan whilst your cruise ship is floating round the drowned cities of London and New York.

Slough isn't fit for humans now, says Amazon. We're going to Shoreditch

Marcus Aurelius
Devil

Slough

Whenever I hear the name, I am reminded of the Doom level - The Slough of Despair

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