* Posts by Chemist

2677 publicly visible posts • joined 24 Mar 2010

Alien Earthlike worlds 'like grains of sand', say 'wobble' boffins

Chemist

"we are the only technological spacefaring race ....."

OR the only method of travel is sub-light and too slow and energy intensive to allow any sig. expansion

Chemist

"so I estimate there are at most 42....."

I guess the downvoters haven't read "Hitchhikers...."

Boffins mount campaign against France's official kilogramme

Chemist

Re : Pah!

It's accuracy is known to ~50 parts per billion which is rather better than the Hubble constant which is ~ +/- 2%

AFAIK

Chemist

"aligns more closely with the smaller scales involved..."

Bit of a Hobson's Choice really - I don't think working with 1e-18 kg or 1e-15 g makes too much difference

Chemist

Re : height

It's not that clocks run at different times - it's time that runs differently.

It's affected by lots of stuff, gravity, velocity, acceleration. That's why the train is usually late

Chemist
Joke

Re : "kilogramme of electrons......."

If I had a kilo of electrons in one hand and a kilo of protons in the other - I'd be very dead I think !

Chemist

Re : UK and US →

All the scientists do - as well as most engineers etc

Ubuntu demotes Gnome for Unity netbook look

Chemist

@Peter Gathercole

I agree with a lot of this. It's very noticeable that VNC on my home network is perfectly usable for routine stuff but when using VNC by SSH from my holiday home to my home network (final link being ~3Mbit/500kbit ) it's rather a dog and just using X is MUCH smoother.

Chemist

@AC

Ditto and strongly in agreement

US raygun jumbo fluffs another test missile-blast attempt

Chemist

Re : Weather?

Flying above the clouds !

XP? Thanks for the memories

Chemist

@Al fazed

You have a business - people pay you !?

My experience is that anybody can use a Linux installation that's been set-up for them. Age doesn't come into it.

Linux bug bestows attackers with 'superuser' powers

Chemist

"In vendor supported companies, it's not possible"

As I have pointed out - wait for the update then. There's no problem unless your existing security is lacking.

I also find it hard to believe that you can't apply the simple workaround or remove the module altogether without the vendors says so - if that's the case why have a sys. manager at all ?

Chemist

Re : Seriously?

As many people have pointed out : if you are REALLY worried about this than it's possible to do something about it now, or more simply use the workaround. Most people don't have to do anything, just wait for their distro updates (unless their system's security is poor - in which case they have other worries)

Chemist

"No one likes people being as smug and childish as you"

Or indeed as anonymous as you.

Chemist

"It may have been fixed, but if that fix isn't in the repos"

That is true but at least the fix is ready and anyone who cares to roll their own can incorporate.

As mentioned there is a simple workaround anyway

Chemist

Bet you wish MS could handle it in such a rapid, responsible way

Extracted from link in article

The following timeline details Linux's response to the reported issue:

2010-10-13 Vulnerability reported to Linux security team

2010-10-13 Response, agreement on disclosure date

2010-10-19 Fix publicly committed [3]

2010-10-19 Coordinated disclosure

There is also a workaround until you get/compile a new kernel

Just how special are Power Users?

Chemist

"that's all a power user like me needs"

In "industrial strength" science - hardware stereo, xeons, multi-gigabytes of memory and the stability to run molecular modeling or dynamics for days on end on a workstation whilst still doing other work. So Linux then, esp. if one needs to offload the REALLY big jobs to Linux farms.

DARPA orders miracle motor for its flying car

Chemist

"only Wankels I heard of are petrol"

I have the feeling that Rolls-Royce developed a wankel diesel for use in tanks (?). The novelty was to use a two rotor engine with the first acting as a supercharger

http://retro-motoring.blogspot.com/2009/03/rolls-royce-make-wankel.html

Firefox update plugs 9 security flaws

Chemist

@demo

3 seconds to start ( including loading home page) on an old celeron laptop for 3.6.10 on OpenSUSE 11.2

Compromise turns Kaspersky site into malware hub

Chemist

"alternative OS is not the be all and end all"

Whilst I agree with you in principle can you quote an example of Linux being compromised by just browsing ?

(I know that if you were mad enough to download and install an executable and then run it you could be in trouble but they'd still not own the machine.)

Keep your PC clean - or we'll shut you down

Chemist

"you certify and maintain AV...."

Only run Linux on the machines here. There really is no anti-virus software as no Linux virus has managed to spread so no anti-virus infrastructure has developed.

Security here is all down to automatic updates, strong passwords, local and router firewalls, SSH access only to long, unusual account names with VERY long passwords and online banking, again using VERY long passwords. All of this backed-up with a little paranoia and common-sense.

Oh and a system that doesn't run executables just because you click on a link in a email or browser.

Microsoft's fear of an OpenOffice

Chemist

Re : Macros!

One thing I spotted during my years with a major pharma was that some people would write a lot of macros, and often got quite good at it but in the vast majority of cases they could have done the same jobs more transparently by just using the spreadsheet functions. Also many people just blindly copied the macros (warts and all) and were oblivious to quite ludicrous results.

Chemist

"Still, I am using linux now"

I only use Linux and so Open Office is a given. My use is mostly spreadsheets but my wife uses the word processor a lot and really had no trouble adapting, both to Linux and Open Office. She's a mostly-retired teacher who still acts as a consultant to her old school so was moving from Windows/Office. Remote access from the Linux machines to her school's Windows system is notably more robust and quicker BTW

High-speed asteroid pile-up prompts X-File

Chemist

Re : pencil shavings on to a piece of paper with a magnet

Please try and report back. Hint - nothing will happen. Iron fillings, yes

Malware forces Firefox to save passwords

Chemist

@ Simon Brady

So how is nsLoginManagerPrompter.js modified under Windows - is it only people running as admin ? The article doesn't make it clear. Sorry it's a few years since I messed with Windows.

Chemist

"What happens if malware figures out how to write that file"

You may as well ask that of ANY file that has your permissions. The global .js files on Linux are protected.

Chemist

I don't imagine this should affect Linux...

Certainly on my (default) FF installation all the .js files of this type are only root writable

Ubuntu 10.10: date with destiny missed

Chemist

@Adrian Challinor

"Thing is a modern OS should never need reinstalling." But, of course, Windows often does.

One word : sarcasm

Chemist

RE : "Thing is a modern OS should never need reinstalling."

The forums are FULL of Windows users who seem to need to re-install every few months as their systems grind to a crawl

Branson 'spaceship' successfully falls off mothership

Chemist

Re : 45000 feet

Obviously going to refuel at Cloudbase, (an airborne headquarters hovering at a height of 40,000 feet from Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons)

Google robo cars drive selves on public streets

Chemist

"this is a pretty mature technology,"

So it's capable of overtaking on non-dual carriageway roads ? Capable of spotting that the truck crawling in front is doing so because it's in a line of slow traffic so don't overtake. Capable of spotting the emergency signs have suddenly closed off the outside lane. Capable of dealing with mad drivers. I could go on - this will take years to ever be safe if it ever happens.

Stuxnet 'a game changer for malware defence'

Chemist

"essentially ignores vulnerable Windows boxes...

This does rather give the impression that the Windows controllers/reporter computers are not involved. The systems wouldn't be in trouble if it wasn't for the vulnerabilities in Windows AND the criminal lax security of the Siemens systems.

But let us be clear - the Windows PCs ARE infected.

MySQL price hikes reveal depth of Oracle's wallet love

Chemist

Is it me

or does the Oracle drone's letter sound more like the language of a phishing e-mail ?

Microsoft plans biggest ever Patch Tuesday

Chemist

Re : Yes, Big Deal →

Neither am I, I must point out - I use SUSE

Tesla says 40% of its Roadsters may catch fire

Chemist

"Open source cars?"

Well I'm a Linux user and I can hack-up a C program with the best (of the amateurs).

But I am really a chemist and I wouldn't like any amateurs playing around with the sort of chemistry necessary for batteries that have any chance of reaching the energy density of petrol.

Much of recent global warming actually caused by Sun

Chemist

Re : Sir → #

Unfortunately the experiment you ask for should really be to replace the sun with something similar that has a constant output and then see what all the shenanigans on Earth does to the temp/climate etc

It's not coming out of my research budget by the way !!!

Chemist

@Chris 3 & AC

Not sure what your points are. Guy was positing that it's correct that almost all warmth on Earth comes from the sun - I agree

You both seem to have missed the simple point and veered off onto other things - in the case of Chris 2 in rather a patronising manner too.

You can't grasp how an increase in incoming intensity (In the right area of the em spectrum, i know overall intensity is down) can cause an overall increase in temperature?"

I can grasp it quite clearly - just don't know what it's got to do with this thread - the article & research yes

By the way "The Greenhouse Effect" is conjectured to increase the amount of HEAT retained by the Earth system. How that happens to relate to temperatures is probably a lot more complex.

Chemist

Re : Surely ..

Quite correct - would the downvoters care to explain ?

Adobe Reader purged of hole that was under attack

Chemist

RE : Building analogies. →

I think it's the WINDOWS that are as much to blame

Goldman downgrades Microsoft stock to 'neutral'

Chemist

"keep Linux -- with its race conditions..."

I'm sure Amazon, Google and all the others, esp. the supercomputer owners must be desperate to move to this wonderful new Dead Dog - if what you say is true ?

Comcast to notify subscribers with infected PCs

Chemist

"difficulty of explaining to Aunt Mildred..."

My "Aunt Mildred" uses Linux !

BT bids bumpkins to beg for better broadband

Chemist
Linux

Works fine for me

Ditto

New GM worms mean large scale spider-silk production

Chemist

"Goats have been producing silk in their milk for several years"

Indeed they have but the yield is ~~1g/litre of milk and the product needs chromatography to purify it and seems to be used for very high performance (expensive) applications.

Are you sure your carpet isn't mohair - the silky fabric from Angora goats

Seat in sexy e-sportster shock

Chemist

"a car in sight is so much car company BS"

I take your point but to be fair I travelled down the A26 in France on the 22nd Sept. in the middle of the day and there were no other vehicles for as far as the eye could see for long stretches.

On the other hand I went from Saas-Fee over the Simplon pass last week to Locarno and there were road-works & heavy traffic much of the way.

Tablets in, netbooks out, forecasts analyst

Chemist

"Perhaps Netbooks need an OS that does not cost 33% of the price."

Mine's always had one

Microsoft caps Ballmer bonus over mobile phone, tablet failures

Chemist

"With the money you save you could hire a better CEO"

Or TRY and write a better OS

OpenOffice files Oracle divorce papers

Chemist

@Renato

I repeat - if you can't get OpenOffice to open documents ~ as quickly as Office then it's not been set-up correctly.

Changing a few settings to save the cost of Office seems a small price ( esp. as I've got it on 6 machines ). In any case Office isn't an option as I'm an all-Linux operation. Whether under Windows OpenOffice is slower I can't test now but I DO know the kind of times that are quoted, if true, don't match my experience or many other peoples either.

Where I have found OpenOffice slow is using large spreadsheets - but in my previous life Excel wasn't up to it either as I used millions of rows so needed JMP.

Chemist

"setting it up properly?"

Enable systray quickstarter in Options memory

Don't use the Java environment under Options Java

Loads a 70K spreadsheet including starting OpenOfiice over the network via wireless in 10 secs on a Celeron mobile laptop - mind I'm using Linux

Battle of the US super-soldier robot suits hots up with XOS 2.0

Chemist

"Petrol is volatile when it's in a gaseous form, but in a..."

I think you need to look up the meaning of volatile