* Posts by Marcus Aurelius

521 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Sep 2009

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iPhone 6: Advanced features? Pah! Nexus 4 had most of them in 2012

Marcus Aurelius
Paris Hilton

Re: nearly $1000

My girlfriends wouldn't be impressed if they were f***ing in a car that cheap :-)

TROUT and EELS in SINISTER PACT to RULE the oceans

Marcus Aurelius

Re: I smell something fishy ...

I think it's an eely good idea.

If the fish doesn't get any food, does it have a trout pout?

I just thought I would add another slippery pun or two...

Qualcomm pumps LTE into quad-core CPU for sub-$100 mobes

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Step in the right direction - BUT

They're unlikely to have any option because otherwise every eBay trader and his dog will enter the phone import business otherwise.

The mobile phone market may be sewn up between a few manufacturers, but it is a very fickle market. HTC are declining rapidly, Nokia are certainly no longer the dominant power, Samsung are having difficulties against Chinese competition which is nimble and getting closer to offering competive products at good prices etc.

City hidden beneath England's Stonehenge had HUMAN ABATTOIR. And a pub

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Beer AND Flesh?

What do you think those "Steak/Curry and Beer" deals are then? ;-)

IT jargon is absolutely REAMED with sexual double-entendres

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

LOHAN?!?!?!?

If double entendres are an issue, then this project should get a rocket!

4th Century GOBLET could REVIVE CORPSE of holographic storage

Marcus Aurelius

I'm afraid

He's dead Jim!

DREADNOUGHTUS: The 65-TON DINO that could crumple up a T-Rex like a paper cup

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Dreadnoughtexceptafloodus surely?

The problem with large meat eaters is that they require a lot of ground to survive on each.

I would have suggested that this thing would be much more vulnerable to a smaller pack animal; whatever the dinosaur equivalent of a hyena is. Sure there would be a few injuries taking it down, but all the smaller animals have to do is severely injure it and then wait for infection to do the rest.

Crack team weighs LOHAN's substantial box

Marcus Aurelius

So what skills are required to work on Lohans Crack team?

Video: Dyson unveils robotic tank that hoovers while you're out

Marcus Aurelius

“I would not have minded but it was really wearing my rug out”

...resulted in a coffee explosion and a call to IT for a new keyboard.

Were you a News of the World journalist back in the day? ;-)

Top beak: UK privacy law may be reconsidered because of social media

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

Top Beak?

I thought that was The Register's hooked proboscis.

Ninja Pirate Zombie Vampires versus Chuck Norris and the Space Marines

Marcus Aurelius

Not forgetting

Alien v Predator (its a film, a computer game....)

If you think 3D printing is just firing blanks, just you wait

Marcus Aurelius
Alien

Re: Re:get with the times

The original claim for Fermats Last Theorem was that he had produced a " I have discovered a truly marvellous proof of this, which this margin is too narrow to contain".

Andrew Wiles proof runs to around 150 pages of very complex math, and shows that Fermat was likely to have been incorrect in his statement, which I think is what the OP was was referrring to

Show Mother Russia you love her: Click HERE and AHHH NYET!

Marcus Aurelius
Mushroom

Re: Ukraine should be carefull..

I'm not convinced Ukraine is a shining beacon of light either. Politics in Ukraine appears to be a very dirty business.

I am of the view that Ukraines troubles stem from the fact that it has an East/West divide in its population, and the election of its leaders follows that divide. The Eastern population saw the "popular uprising" to remove a president who was from their faction as illegal, and personally I agree with them.

Whilst I think that Putin has some very unclean hands in the matter, I do think that Russia has a fair case that supporters of a close association with Russia have been treated unfairly. On the other hand, appropriating territory from the Ukraine is not the answer.

Our LOHAN spaceplane ballocket Kickstarter climbs through £8000

Marcus Aurelius
Happy

Re: Spaceport Fees

Last time I tried to dock my lasers accidentally discharged at the space station, and I had to leave the sector with a host of Viper patrol craft on my heels.

I wonder if my status is still "Fugitive"....

Marcus Aurelius
WTF?

Why not somewhere else in Yurope?

I am in favour of you sending your probe into space, but it seems you were a little unclear as to why you have to go to the US for your junket^H^H^H spaceplane launch. You already stated that the French and Dutch had been helpful, so why not sip some Beaujolais or Moet as your spherical object takes your probe to places no one has been before?

The police are WRONG: Watching YouTube videos is NOT illegal

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Also there is apparently no law against

In the case you are quoting a very significant element of the case was that at least one of the people who she'd had an intimate relationship with was under 16 when she was 19. Also when initially arrested, it was assumed she was male and the actual arrest was for sexual assault on the assumption she was a guy.

In other words this was a sexual assault case and the gender of the offender had little to do with it.

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Also there is apparently no law against

Or by virtue of fraud, raping women protesters and fathering children by them

I think if you accepted this one, you would be on a very slippery slope indeed. It would mean that every white lie anyone ever tells to have sex could be brought up against you later, ranging from shaving or adding a few years here and there, to exaggerating the size of your penis, job importance, wealth or whatever. You consent to sex if you like the person you are with, regardless of his/her job title.

Your cynical points about all the others have validity though

US Copyright Office rules that monkeys CAN'T claim copyright over their selfies

Marcus Aurelius

CCTV pics are simple

The person who set the camera up has framed the area that is taken and in addition starts and stops the taking of pictures. There is however legislation about what CCTV can and can't be used for though. e.g. if it is for security in a private venue, you can't see the pictures of a supermodel having a passionate snog with a random bloke in there.

Marcus Aurelius
Alien

Being the author is critical

...a human did press the shutter in the sense that he guided the satellite camera to the exact location and circumstances where the shot was taken.

Author is a strange word but the intent is to convey how much control you had over the circumstances of the production of the work. The photographer had little to none in this case.

The monkey selfie one could probably have been solved by leaving the camera taking frames at 30 or 60fps and then passing it to the monkey instead of having the monkey control the exact circumstances of when the shutter button was pressed.

Marcus Aurelius

Re: It's the Economy, Stupid!

There are plenty of ways around this minor inconvenience. For example, give a monkey a camera and have the photographer take the photo remotely and your work here is done.

Also people will do this for fun and not profit.

Marcus Aurelius

Nice try

...but the copyright office also states that basic polishing (i.e photoshoppery) of an image does not make it a completely new work eligible for copyright.

Marcus Aurelius
Happy

Oooh ooh oooh!

I'd like a banana and a job as Official Legal Counsel to The Register please!

http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/containing/2265376

http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/containing/2266466

http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/containing/2266470

http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/containing/2266569

http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/containing/2267528

I'm now off the The Torygraph and The Daily Hate to express my smugness there too.

LOHAN packs bags for SPACEPORT AMERICA!

Marcus Aurelius

Isn't this sort of thing

...what MPs and Foreign Office chappies are for?

There's surely a lot of them right now staring at suntanned senoritas in Spain, so surely one can be found to sort your dilemma

The Register to boldly go where no Vulture has gone before: The Weekend

Marcus Aurelius
Childcatcher

by Rolf Harris

I forgot to mention that "in-house" was "in the Big House"

(ref http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/big%20house)

Call of Duty daddy considers launching own movie studio

Marcus Aurelius

It can't be any worse than...

Doom

Mortal Kombat

etc etc

or can it?

AMD slaps 'Radeon' label on Tosh flash: >Beard stroke< Hmm, cunning ...

Marcus Aurelius
Flame

Pricing in dollars?

Is this site a UK site or not? Take your steenking greenbacks to Scotland where they may soon use them as their new currency....

Microsoft Azure goes TITSUP (Total Inability To Support Usual Performance)

Marcus Aurelius

What have the Romans done for us?

The problem with building (and system) failures is that they most often occur when the architect has secured a new job before the failure is discovered.

Marcus Aurelius

Some people interpret upvotes as cheers and downvotes as boos.

You'll find Yoda at the back of every IT conference

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

Sixty grand may be a bargain

There's an adage about someone ha d a car breakdown, and a mechanic came out, worked out the symptoms and then said to the owner "that'll be £200, please".

"£200" goes the owner. "Thats ridiculous!". I want an invoice in writing with a breakdown of why I'm being charged so much.

So later he gets the breakdown:

Labour charge: 10 mins - £20

Knowing where to deploy hammer - £180

FEAST YOUR EYES: Samsung's Galaxy Alpha has an 'entirely new appearance'

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Specs - missing features

I had Xiaomi in mind when I wrote this, but now that you mention it...

Marcus Aurelius
Trollface

Re: Specs - missing features

And with every Chinese phone you get this bonus feature:

Free data farming of all your phone numbers and personal information

Dolby Atmos is coming home and it sounds amazing

Marcus Aurelius
Paris Hilton

Must invest

...in some more Monster Cable shares

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

Marcus Aurelius

Extra Bonus points are awarded

...if through asking such questions by using someone elses phone you can get their house trashed by a SWAT team.

Dead Steve Jobs sued by own shareholders in no-poach pact brouhaha

Marcus Aurelius
Mushroom

One argument would be

...that because of this agreement Apple was able to save billions of dollars, obtain and hold the staff it wanted and therefore report increased profits which would reflect in an increased share price. The settlement will be for peanuts (if you call a couple of hundred million peanuts) and therefore a reasonable return on its dodgy activity.

No Apple fanbois here: Man United BANS iPads from Old Trafford

Marcus Aurelius

No reason to use a tablet

A decent phone has a camera as good as a tablet anyway. I don't think there is a photography ban anyway.

Pi palaver perplexes LOHAN Pixhawk pair

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

All hands on deck

Does that mean you've rented a yacht for your Spanish holiday as well?

Marcus Aurelius

One Pi is never enough

Haven't you guys heard of redundant systems in safety critical design? :-)

You should have multiple slices of Pi voting on actions.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4: 4G Android tablet is easy to swallow

Marcus Aurelius

Tab S 8.4 Model Numbers

There appears to be a series of tables with T-700/705 model numbers and some with T-320/325

Are some Galaxy Tab Pro whilst others are Galaxy Tab S.

Whats the difference?

Update: I think I've just self edumacated myself - see http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/samsung-galaxy-tab-vs-note-vs-pro/

Marcus Aurelius

Re: It's also a phone!

It's Dom Joly time! I can imagine putting this huge fondleslab to your ear and going "HELLO!" very loudly :-)

Intel admits: Broadwell Core M chip looking a bit thin, no fans found at all

Marcus Aurelius

Tablet thin-ness

I don't really want my tablet or phone to get any thinner. My hand wants to hold a device with a feeling of solidity, not something that may break or bend to easily.

If they have the ability, I do want my tablet or phone to last the better part of a week before needing a recharge. If their system runs on 1/4 of the power that the previous generation did, then I'll take the increase between recharges rather than shrinking my tool...

Simian selfie stupidity: Macaque snap sparks Wikipedia copyright row

Marcus Aurelius

Re: The Monkey Guy...

You're confusing "ownership" with "entitled to copyright protection". The two are entirely different matters, and US copyright law explicitly states that if your work was not authored by a human, you can't get copyright.

Any law that states you can invent a cure for cancer and get 14 years protection on it, and yet can take a photo of a monkey and be protected for 90 years or so is highly insane. About 15-20 years for both would be enough.

Marcus Aurelius

Gibbon take :-)

According to US law, works not authored by humans are not eligible for copyright protection. Children, as they are human, are eligible for copyright protection of their works - there is no age limit.

See http://www.copyrightcompendium.com/#503, especially 503.03(a) Works-not originated by a human author.

So Terry Pratchett's librarian had better campaign for a change in the law before he writes his memoirs!

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Whose Jursidiction?

Yes, US law would likely be the only one that matters since both the Buenos Aires and Berne Conventions recognise the law of the shorter term. In the US copyright regulations clearly state that copyright cannot be obtained on non-human works and therefore the duration of any copyright in the US is zero.

Marcus Aurelius

Re: Out of curiosity

Wikimedia would just reply with a counter-notice reiterating their belief that the image is public domain and you would be back to square one where the matter would have to be decided in a court of law.

Although it does sound strange, WIkimedia have an arguable case that since the monkey was the author and non-human works do not qualify for copyright protection, it is public domain. [I'm not saying they would win a case, but being backed by the legislation is a good starting point :-) ]

Marcus Aurelius

Derivative works

Lets assume for this argument that the original photo image file as taken by the monkey qualifies for public domain status.

Unless the contribution to the derivative work as posted on Wikimedia was significant, it remains in the public domain. A small amount of rotation, some cropping and a slight tweaking of the color balance would not qualify.as significant and even then only those specific derivative changes would be protected.

Marcus Aurelius

Re: An arguable case for Public Domain

When challenging my IP qualifications, its a good idea to show me yours before I show mine. :-)

However, I said it was an arguable case - I didn't say anything about my IP qualifications, nor did I say that the argument I was making was guaranteed to win. However since I was a joint author of DeCSS (see bottom of http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/Kesden/index.html) I did get some exposure to US Copyright law.

The requirement for a human author to be eligible for Copyright registration can be found in S.503.03 ("Works not capable of supporting a copyright claim.") of the regulations. The section on copyright.gov is down but there is a copy on copyright compendium (http://www.copyrightcompendium.com/#503). Read the section 503.03(a) Works-not originated by a human author.- the title alone should be a big enough clue.

Dell The Man shrieks: 'We've got a Bitcoin order, we've got a Bitcoin order'

Marcus Aurelius

Currency fluctuations

I realise somebody has to get it going, but I'd regard paying in Bitcoin as a poor way of doing business at the moment. After a few recent knocks pushing the price down, I suspect the next Bitcoin movement will be substantially upwards over the next year, so those servers cost you substantially more than $50k

LOHAN acquires aircraft arboreal avoidance algorithm acronyms

Marcus Aurelius

Arboreal Recognition System for Evasion does though...

As long as we know our ARSE from our ELBOW

Marcus Aurelius

I don't mean to be critical but

As far as I can tell the earliest LOHAN proposals date from 2011. Couldn't you get a real lander on the moon in this sort of timeframe?

New twist in China Apple hardware ban riddle: THE TRUTH at last?

Marcus Aurelius
Happy

The Truth?

You can't handle the truth!

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