Posts by Turtle

@ Brian Miller

I thought that Half-Life 2 Episode 2 at times lapsed into unintentional self-parody.

@ Paul Shirley

Without the Google apps, it can not be called "Android" at all. And Google will enforce that prohibition.

And those required-in-order-to-be-called-Android apps can't be called "open" in any way, no matter now the term is stretched.

I am also pretty sure that Google has a policy of giving new builds to selected manufacturers first, and only very much later to make it available generally

@ breakfast

"A lot of albums ( which were a thing back in the day ) consist of songs in a particular order that the artists who created them felt fitted together in some way to form a whole that exceeds the components from which it is constructed."

Good post. Artistically insightful. Elucidates a point lost on many people nowadays.

I have always felt the same way; in fact, I rarely listen to mp3 any other way than by album. "Shuffle" to me is an abomination, only for groups of songs from (what I consider) one-hit wonders*. When I used to engineer, it was always the case that, even for a three song demo, all the participants would devote a great deal of thought, not merely to picking the three best songs, but to picking the three best songs that also made a coherent whole.

And as John Lennon once complained, the Beatles would invest great amounts of time devising a good running order and then the albums would be re-released in the US, with completely different running orders - and songs added and subtracted. He said "It used to drive us crackers."

* I classify as a "one hit wonder" any entity that has only one song (or very few songs) that *I* like. It has nothing to do with the popularity of said entity on the world-at-large's record charts.

@ Frederic Bloggs

"Ten turnips and, as I like you, a FREE leek."

Big friggin' deal. Where *I* am, anyone can take a leek for free.

Re: Perhaps it is just taste

"I had to google what a Onesey is, I didn't even know that these things existed"

I too never saw such a thing before either. Is that a "chav" thing? I'm kinda surprised that those aren't popular here, furry-style or otherwise..

Re: Nipples are "like snowflakes",

"Nipples are 'like snowflakes'"

You're doing it wrong.

@AC

"I think you mean Erich von Manstein, not Rommel...."

To quote Gen. Buck Turgidson: "A kraut by any other name...."

@ Vociferous

"Chinese communism has nothing but the name and the authoritarianism in common with traditional Marxist communism. It's effectively fascism with communist rhetoric duct-taped on top."

ALL forms of communism are "fascism with communist rhetoric duct-taped on top."

@ Captain Hogwash, @hplasm

It would be "Truculent Turtle". Obviously.

And this release could have been called "Savage Salamander". A wasted opportunity, clearly.

Say, maybe he should hire me!

@ Herby

Your logic is, mutatis mutandis, applicable to the situation with Google/Motorola vs all the other Android handset makers, Samsung included. (I'm pretty sure that I have read about Samsung investigating the possibility of creating its own alternative to Android, so that they will not be dependent on a competitor.)

@JEDIDIAH

"Tape was a distinct improvement back in the day."

As I recall, it was an "improvement" only in the sense that for certain purposes there were no viable alternatives. And in most cases, "something" is better than "nothing" and very often much better. But I do agree completely with you that it is not as bad as some people are saying, and all the much much superior tech that displaced it makes it look worse than it was at the time.

@ Hud Dunlap

"So less than 1% of stock will get you a seat on the board? I am impressed."

Although I too was struck by this, I was not impressed. I was baffled. How does it happen that 0.8% gets a seat on the board? Could it be the case is that the largest shareholders are (even if their holdings are, comparatively, but a small percent of the total shares) automatically entitled to a seat on the board except if there are compelling reasons to deny them a seat?

@ jellypappa: Pre-nuptial Agreement.

"does anyone really care?"

What interests me is what the pre-nuptial agreement with his soon-to-be ex-wife says.

@ Graham Marsden

"You mean the mail service that, by using, you automatically give Google permission to read all your mails?!"

Quite.

In fact, I wonder if it might be actually be preferable to have the NSA read one's email, as opposed to Google...

The Whole Point

"Isn't their whole point to release stuff?"

No, WikiLeaks point is to make money. Recall that John Young considers WikiLeaks a criminal organization whose primary purpose is commercial.

See "Wikileaks are for-hire mercenaries - Cryptome" http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/07/cryptome_on_wikileaks/ from where I cite: "From the earliest discussions, Young alleges, Wikileaks intended to pimp out the information for funds. 'Well, it only came up in the topic of raising $5 million the first year. That was the first red flag that I heard about. I thought that they were actually a public interest group up until then, but as soon as I heard that, I know that they were a criminal organisation.'"

@ Seanie Ryan

Although I am not sure, nevertheless I will, making an effort to be generous, assume that the article was an attempt - however feeble and tedious - at humor.

That doesn't mean that the article isn't moronic....

@ Ross K

Well thanks for the downvote; I deserved it.

@James Gosling

"I firmly believe there will come a day in the not too distant future where hackers will save us all from unjustified oppression. "

.. and so, when that time arrrives, all oppression from which hackers will not be able to save us -is- justified?

@Paul Shirley

"It's laughable to equate 'no direct deaths' with 'no deaths'."

Well if nuclear power is too risky for you, be a coal miner.

Re: So I should scrap the plan...

"So I should scrap the plan to move to NY and open a fresh fruit drinks stand called 'Limey Drinks'?"

Well they have a racial slur and a big fat pig on their logo, in case anyone isn't getting the, uh, message, such as it is. So they are way, way ahead of your little limeade drink stand.

@JaitcH: Irony

"In an interview Swiss publication Schweiz am Sonntag in May, Scholter had spoken of the stress induced by an 'always on' culture, reports The Independent."

I too was struck by this line. And that he made his living by enabling this "always-on" culture makes his complaints and subsequent suicide very ironic.

Re: sigh

"Way to fight the good fight Mr. Wyden"

Wyden is the same Google hireling who wants to expropriate musicians, photographers, artists, film makers, and other, for the sake of Page, Brin, Schmidt, and the other wealthy fascistic tech oligarchs. (Schmidt call himself and his cohorts "the Gang Of Four". It's not really a joke.)

And by the way, that's the same Google that has to be the biggest surveillance machine in the history of humanity.

Maybe Wyden thinks that if the NSA can't conduct surveillance directly, they will have to contract it out to other parties, like, oh, maybe Wyden's masters at Google: it appears that they've thought of a way to turn Snowden into a business opportunity.