* Posts by Merlin

10 publicly visible posts • joined 16 May 2007

Google erases G8 venue from Earth: Microsoft doesn't

Merlin

Beat me to it

First thing I thought of when I read the story. At first I thought the B&W was some sort of infrared artifact but there are clear shadows. Perhaps moon shadows?

BT cable ballsup hooks up punters to wrong numbers

Merlin

So whose fault is it?

I notice that your article and all the comments manage to avoid criticising the bleeders who stole the cable in the first place, took it somewhere remote, burnt off the insulation and sold the copper to a dodgy scrap dealer. BT had an enormous unplanned job dumped on them, diverting engineers away from planned work, not to mention the cost of replacing the cable and reconnecting the customers. And for that they get no thanks and no financial return. If you want to get angry, get angry at the toerags who disrupt peoples' lives and businesses for a few quids worth of copper.

Microsoft to Apple: 'Oh, yeah? Well, your font is too small'

Merlin

I agree with Microsoft? My world is crumbling.

For once MS have got it right. The point of the rules is to stop lawyers from boosting their own profits by churning out enormous documents which take years to process. That would mean that court cases would last even longer and lawyers would charge even more millions of dollars. It would also usually mean that the side which could afford most lawyers would win.

And don't forget where all these millions of dollars come from - your pocket. Every time a consumer buys a new PC with pre-installed Windows or a MAC or a smartphone running Windows or an iPhone, some of the money they shell out goes to those lawyers.

Ptable: It’s all about the interface

Merlin

Are they looking at the same site?

I read the article, resisting the temptation to link to ptable, then read the comments, then went back and clicked on the link. Great site, complicated because there's a lot of stuff on there and it's quite a complicated subject, if you think about it. That last phrase is very significant because it's clear that some of the posters of comments haven't put a lot of thought into them. The site clearly works so if it doesn't work for you then your browser or operating system are broken. If you can't understand it then perhaps it's because you don't really know very much about chemistry? There are bits of information on there that I don't understand because a) I only did chemistry to A-Level and b) that was a long time ago and they've just kept on researching all that time. I shall bookmark ptable and come back occasionally when I need mental stimulus.

Massive new US spy airship 'could be used to carry big cargoes'

Merlin

Why Afghanistan?

Your article and many of the comments focus on carrying cargo to or inside Afghanistan. Why? Cargo needs to be carried to and from many places and not all of them contain armed insurgents trying to shoot down airships. If they were used to carry cargo between continents they could conveniently use ports, which already have access to an infrastructure of roads and rail. They also have access to large quantities of water which makes an excellent ballast.

Vomit cannon to protect vessels from pirates, paparazzi

Merlin

Will it work?

Has anyone tried this device against people wearing sunglasses?

Ruckus kicks off over directional Wi-Fi

Merlin

Patent people

"The people in these patent offices" do live in the real world, where what looks stupid to us is OK as long as someone can make a profit out of it. Plus those same people may be looking for new jobs in the future and may well end up working for companies that they granted stupid patents to. I wonder how often that happens?

Police nick 460 a day for using mobiles while driving

Merlin

Speed not a major factor? What?

Have a chat with a good driver (no, you're not one) if you think that speed is only a minor cause of accidents. Go through your list of what you think causes accidents and for each one ask yourself: "If I had been going a bit slower (say, below the speed limit) could I have stopped in time". A recent chat with a police advanced driving instructor convinced me that speed causes virtually all acidents.

Night of the Living RegisterFly: Randy Travis concert in jeopardy

Merlin

The might of God.

"I am praying that God will show his might at this 11th hour for us". Hadn't he already? Learn to accept God's decisions even when they're not what you want.

AMD's ATI R600 launched for desktops, laptops

Merlin

Connectivity of new cards

Just for the benefit of those of us who keep older PCs running by adding new components occasionally, it would be nice to know if these new graphics cards will be available in AGP form as well as PCI-E. I know the NVIDIA 8800s are but, as you point out, these are cheaper.