* Posts by Marcus Aurelius

521 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Sep 2009

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Margaret Thatcher celebrates 85 years

Marcus Aurelius
Flame

Well

I'm just coming to the last 5 years of my 25 year mortgage, my wife lives at home with 2 kids, and the education is reasonably decent.

Labour did not really use failed Tory economic policies, which were to keep the public sector spending down to a minimum and work on substantially reducing the national debt. Brown stealth taxed everything where he could *cough* pensions *cough*, and massively increased the size of the public sector, giving us the financial headache we have now. He got handed a golden goose of an economy and by various policies caused it to lay itself to death,

Marcus Aurelius
Grenade

Biggest Heist

... has been pulled off under a Labour Government which had been in power for a number of years and was claiming that it knew all about finance and was ......what was that word.....ah yes....PRUDENT!

There is absolutely no way that Thatcher could be blamed for that, especially as Labour set up the banking regulatory system under which it went so spectacularly tits-up.

Incidentally, if you look at the decline in the numbers of miners, you'll find that the rate downwards actually *slowed* during the Thatcher years. Scargill was right about the death of the mining industry in the UK, but what he didn't say was that it had been dying on its feet for years before, and Thatcher probably gave it a couple more years before it fell off its perch...

Marcus Aurelius
WTF?

Hmm

When Thatcher took over the country, it was swamped by strikes, had high taxes and economically in the toilet.

She left it a much more prosperous, stronger and more confident country and handbagged anyone who opposed her to death. I'm sure she's not popular in mining communities and a few other sectors, but without her I shudder to think what the country would be like.

One For All SV9380 Freeview HD indoor aerial

Marcus Aurelius
Pirate

Not to forget

..saying how Monster cable will solve any remaining problems

'We Want Two' Navy carrier plan pondered by Cabinet

Marcus Aurelius
Grenade

WW1 Battleships were useful

The UK navy kept the German fleet and merchants bottled up for the entirety of the war.

Even looking at Jutland, where it can be argued the Royal Navy ships were "less good", the important thing was that the Royal Navy remained undefeated and stronger than the German Navy. Those dreadnaughts certainly helped.

Lloyd George, who I think said it, was quite pacifist (for his time) until 1912 or so, when it was obvious war was looming, and he subsequently became a very effective War Minister and (later) Prime Minister.

In WW2, technology had moved on, and carriers became the rulers of the seas, but there was still a role for 8-10 16" guns on a floating platform....

Marcus Aurelius
FAIL

2 Carriers fine, but need to go nuclear.

If our fleet is going to consist of 2 carriers and little else, at least put a nuclear plant in them to keep them out at sea longer, and so any fuel tanks could be for the aircraft......

Bulgarians bag German pair for pinching panzer

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

Re: Luman

I normally avoid Police Camera Action shows, but would watch it for this; especially if they set up a road block and the Panzer "deployed" its 75mm cannon.....or rolled over the cars like an old episode of Kenny Everett,

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

It seems

..as though the Germans were trying to repatriate their tanks ready for the next German attempt to take over the continent....

£1bn+ Royal Navy destroyer finally fires 'disgraceful' weapon

Marcus Aurelius
FAIL

Re: /dev/null -- Yes but...

... doesn't that make it worse? A ship like this should be fairly expendable in preference to the carrier getting hit, yet in cost terms it's a "damn close run thing". What will they cost when fully equipped with all the toys you mentioned?

A "proper" navy should be having about 20 of something similar to this ship at a much lower cost so they are (semi) expendable, instead of the paltry number we're having.

Marcus Aurelius
Grenade

M1 Abrams and Challenger 2

IIRC, the M1 Abrams is one of the few undeniable success stories, especially given the US attempts to upgrade their MBT beforehand.

As for RPG attacks, its possible that the Challenger 2 is less vulnerable, but its not a severe problem for the M1 either. AFAICT, precisely one (yes one) M1 has keen KO'd by an RPG attack. From the way you were talking you'd think it was like the rate at which Snatch Landrovers go bang at the slightest sign of a mine or firefight.

Its possible the Challenger 2 is a better armoured tank, however for speed, rapid maintenance and reliability I'll do a Lewis and take the M1 as a perfectly good tank to sit in anytime,

Marcus Aurelius
Alert

Re: Jay2

Don't know why someone downvoted, as I recall your statement is accurate.

However, compared to the level of assistance we provided in return in Iraq, Afghanistan and anywhere else the US wanted help in the playground, their support was very lukewarm, and my original point stands that the Navy needs to offer a complete range of "services" to deal with any situation without support from other nations.

Marcus Aurelius
Go

Yanks

Whilst they may have provided some Intel, I don't recall the yank navy lifting a finger on our behalf with respect to the Falklands.

A UK navy has to be able to stand on its own two feet.

Youth jailed for not handing over encryption password

Marcus Aurelius
Big Brother

UK fruit of the poisonous tree

If I recall, evidence discovered in this accidental way is acceptable in the UK, but it is up to the courts to rule on admissability depending on just how far the method of discovery has stretched relevant laws..

iPad spends 20% of time in bed

Marcus Aurelius
FAIL

Only 20%

I would say more, but I've got to get back to my marathon World of Warcraft duvet session....

Acer Aspire 5940G 15.6in notebook

Marcus Aurelius
Grenade

A job for trading standards

You have an automatic right to assume that electronic equipment will work for at least 6 months from getting it, and in some cases your reasonable expectation that equipment will work extends for about 5 years after purchase; a year is probably reasonable for a laptop. If anything fails in this period you have a prettty automatic right to a repair or replacement, and if not given you should be talking to Trading Standards.

Hammer time as AOL nails TechCrunch

Marcus Aurelius
FAIL

Being bought by AOL

...seems to be the Kiss Of Death for any company. The only thing that seems to be awesome is how fast AOL companys lose money and circle the drain.

Nuclear merchant ships could open up Arctic routes for real

Marcus Aurelius
Grenade

Economic Zones

Whilst they may be economic zones for mineral extraction purposes, they'll probably be regarded as "open seas" for the purpose of Maritime Traffic. The only probable problem areas are choke points such as the Bering Strait, where traditional territorial limits meet without any space in between.

BT feathers ruffled over pigeon-based file transfer caper

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

Similarity

<<a spokesman told the Reg: "The claim that a third of homes can't get broadband is very wide of the mark. Hopefully the pigeon will be more accurate.>>

Pigeons and spokesmen have a lot in common, namely that they're likely to spout loads of crap all over you.

Blizzard issues fatwa against Starcraft II cheaters

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

Gold farmers

I wish someone would ban the gold farmers. Their Auction House market manipulation is ruining my attempts at Auction house market manipulation.... :-P

Voice of America chap ejaculates over Paris Hilton

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

Not quite

If I recall she did a thoughtful election video during the last campaign

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

Re: Furry Front Bottom

I thought most of them come totally depilated nowadays

Software re-sale restricted by US Court of Appeals

Marcus Aurelius
Flame

Autodesk is not a EULA decision

I just noticed an interesting post by PJ on Groklaw:

The problem with Autodesk software, in this fact pattern,

is that there was no EULA. There was a contract between

Autodesk and the folks Vernor got his copies from, and

that contract, or license agreement, specifically said

that it was a license deal, not a sale, and that the folks

had no right to sell to anybody.

The URL is (breathe deeply);

http://www.groklaw.net/comment.php?mode=display&sid=201009101658045&title=Vernor%20v.%20AutoDesk%20-%20Vacated%20%28first%20sale%29%20and%20remanded%20%28copyright%20misuse%29&type=article&order=&hideanonymous=0&pid=874510#c874529

Greenland ice loss rates 'one-third' of what was thought

Marcus Aurelius
Troll

El Reg and scientists

El Reg has long taken the waste water out of scientists. This is perhaps because Computing is really more of an engineering discipline than a scientific one, and an engineer only believes a scientific theory when he has built something that successfully uses the theory.

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

I am sure

That the number of Gin and Tonics a thirsty Moderatrix can quaff in a lunch hour is a number for which there is as yet, no proper name.

Marcus Aurelius
Go

It can be used for

Saline solution to fill Bulgarian funbags. I wait some some expert on Register weights and measures to tell me how many the solution would fill.

Crowds greet A380 at Manchester Airport

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

El Regs

Noodly appendages are everywhere!

Samsung R780 17.3in laptop

Marcus Aurelius
Grenade

Even cheaper

The model from Argos you quoted is an i3 processor, not i5. It also has a GT310 video card instead of a 330. Check processor type, speed and just about everything else before comparing!

You can avoid Argos and pay about £100 less from a number of suppliers (ebuyer.com for one). (£605 is the cheapest I've found so far for the same model as the Argos version)

Marcus Aurelius

Higher resolutionm

There is nothing stopping decrepit old fogies having larger fonts on their display. Higher resolution results in more crisp layout with less need for aliasing and all those other clever tricks.

Marcus Aurelius
Heart

Just in time

I'm considering buying one of these.

I'm a little dubious about the wisdom of comparing it to a £1200 Ethos, which is 50% more, so its hardly surprising that it wins the bang for buck competion. I'm sure El Reg can compare the machine to others in its price band.

Data protection and surveillance: Swapping the speed camera for ANPR?

Marcus Aurelius
Happy

Interesting question

Is there anything (ignore the law bit here) to stop people installing IR lights around the license plate?

I don't think the law says that number plates have to be legible under IR light; it specifies the lettering style/height/spacing/coloring etc, nothing about what light frequencies the lettering has to be visible in.... :-)

Electric mass-driver catapults to beat Royal Navy cuts?

Marcus Aurelius
WTF?

That is when

The navy quietly go for nuclear propulsion for their ships. It is a bit pointless having a carrier weighing the best part of 100k tons, expected to go world wide, and be available most of the time, propelled by anything else.

Marcus Aurelius
FAIL

...and

Fragile enough so that if it were deployed in Afghanistan it would be known as the "Snatch Land Rover of the skies"!

Shopping mall mulls Supreme Court bid to back no-speaking ban

Marcus Aurelius
Flame

US appears to be different

It seems that US law has decided that certain types of "private" property are not private in respect of Free Speech rights, as they are to a certain extent public areas.

The Right to Free Speech can be limited (e.g. yelling Fire for no reason in a crowded theatre can be an offence) but only if it is absolutely necessary to do so.

America's top model fights off 'pervert' at Star Wars convention

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

I find your lack of courtesy .... disturbing

I wonder which one used Force Grip?

Short passwords 'hopelessly inadequate', say boffins

Marcus Aurelius
Pirate

Yes but

...a way round this is to use the same password on every users account instead of going through all the passwords on a single users account.

BT Tower to open for first time in 29 years

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

Why blow out the top?

It would be much easier to attack it with a giant kitten

Prototype semi-hovership delivered to Commandos

Marcus Aurelius
Joke

Isle of Wight Ferry

is the only thing where the public comes close to being ripped off as much as by defence contractors......

Marcus Aurelius
Troll

Re: 50 years old

That's just how long it will take before it gets in service, and by then the cost will be a trillion pounds....

Ellison wrestles Google to strangle 'unofficial' Java

Marcus Aurelius
Happy

I'll do my best

"Why not include his holiness Saint Jobs in your conspiracy theory as well? "

here goes....

It seems Larry has been taking a few lessons off Saint Jobs in taking previously licensed stuff back into private hands. Like Apple with its operating system, Larry has started to close off Solaris and Java.....

I'll let someone else build on this :-)

Marcus Aurelius
FAIL

Fanboi downvoting going on here?

For reasons related to Microsoftts previous behaviour, I'm normally a fan of everything non-Microsoft, and for that reason would prefer that Java lives on in preference to C# or anything else emerging from Seattle.

However the previous post was a rational and well argued response to the issue at hand, so I'm a little surprised it has been downvoted so much. If you really disagree I'd rather read your reasons why than giving this a thumbs down.

Marcus Aurelius
WTF?

Yes but

making Java "cool" is not the same as giving Oracle revenue as a result.

I'm honestly not sure where I stand with this one, as my HTC Desire is indeed very cool, but I can see things from Oracles point of view.

Someone else suggested that Java licensing seems to be a little confusing as a result of the increased "blur" between what is a mobile device and what is a full fledged computer. I hope this is sorted out not only between Google and Oracle, but hope that it is made clear to all developers exactly how open Java is, so we all clearly know under what conditions we can use it or not.

OpenSolaris axed by Ellison

Marcus Aurelius
WTF?

Speaking personally

As a sometime Linux user, I want it for free to develop a solution on my system, and then I implement that solution in the real world on a "proper" system, which $company doesn't object to paying megabucks for.

Rightly or wrongly, some companies are still a little bit squiffy on using the "amateur produced" Linux over Solaris, AIX or whatever, and I'm personally not going to argue with them as they're happy to pay my bill and for the "industry" system they want..

New 'Tolpuddle Martyrs' demand £50 a day

Marcus Aurelius
WTF?

2 hours a day?

Sounds like you could still claim benefits and do this job.

Pesky ISS cooling pump: NASA has a plan

Marcus Aurelius
Flame

It gets warm

obviously

Ellison blasts HP 'idiots' for Hurd's exit

Marcus Aurelius
Go

Simples

If Larry likes him so much, he can employ him at Oracle

Naked German women evade Swedish chopper

Marcus Aurelius
Go

Maybe

..best simulated with Playmobile

Naomi Campbell admits handling 'blood diamonds'

Marcus Aurelius
Flame

BBC News is still my primary news site

But I can't help feeling I'm now reading a comic instead of a serious paper/ site.

Murdoch predicts iPads all round

Marcus Aurelius
FAIL

Sign of the Times

I normally pick up a serious paper two to three times a week, but I haven't picked up a Times since it went behind the paywall.

PARIS pumps up a Mk 2 release mechanism

Marcus Aurelius
IT Angle

I am disappointed in you lot

That El Reg has not adopted an IT solution to this problem. A simple GPS + computer hooked up to your release mechanism could do this instead of the Heath Robinson system proposed. On top of that you could probably use the waste heat from the CPU to keep the release mechanism defrosted if needed.

If you really wanted to demonstrate ingenuity, how about jailbreaking an iPhone or Android phone, getting it to report its location periodically or on demand, and then accepting/generating a release command through its USB connector?

AMD, GlobalFoundries, and the Intel gap

Marcus Aurelius
FAIL

Return to server

The performance of the chips is not identical; taking the benchmark to be reasonably correct (a large assumption but...), the i7 delivers about 50% more grunt. The simple reason it does this is because its a 6 core processor to the AMD's 4.

A realistic comparison of your Phenom II is to a top end i5; both are 4 cores, and surprise, both deliver similar benchmarks. The price difference? about $20. You seem to want to go purely on clock speed, and that's rarely been a good comparison.

As I've said there are reasons why a machine won't show a 50%+ difference between an i7 and a Phenom II; not all processes will be optimised to run on a 6 core system in one way or another, and the system will still depend on the surrounding I/O.

Your original contention was that you had to pay £8-900 smackeroonies to get an Intel machine of similar performance to yours. I am pointing out that I agree you have to pay more for an Intel system, but the price performance gap is not as big as you suggest. If you had said an extra £1-200 for a similar spec Intel machine, I would not have disagreed.

P.S. All my home systems are AMD :-)

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