Posts by veti

The Zero was an amazingly fast and agile opponent, and it's quite understandable that the US pilots in their big clunky Wildcats and Avengers and Buffaloes felt hopelessly outmanoeuvred by them.

But the Zero was agile because it had no armour, unlike the Americans. It's like the old saying, "You may be lucky fifty times, but I only need to get lucky once".

The way America won the Pacific war was a wonderful illustration of why military preparedness - doesn't actually matter that much, if you're as large as that. The USA was actually better off for not having a large pre-existing military establishment - it meant it could gear up its unmatched industry and produce the right equipment for the war it actually found itself in, rather than one some strategist had dreamed up twenty years earlier. Japan never had a hope in heck of overrunning the USA - a brief glance at any atlas would have told everyone concerned that much - and without doing that, there was no way of stopping them from eventually out-producing Japan.

Re: Keeping schtum

Yeah, I wanted to ask about that...

How exactly does one ask Tectus niloticus for a comment? Do they have an embassy? Or did you just leave a message on David Attenborough's phone?

To an extent, just about every article you see on El Reg (and every other trade-related news outlet) is somebody trolling us. In this case, Veracode [who? - Ed] has done a study for its own purposes, and decided to release the findings in the hope of drumming up business for themselves.

The difference between open and closed source in this context is about your relationships. Closed source comes from an identifiable vendor, if they're shipping shit you can do something about it (complain privately, complain publicly, take legal action, shift vendors, stop paying them, whatever). Open source doesn't allow for any of those remedies, the only thing that "works" is to fix it yourself - at unknowable cost, and then you have a potentially difficult choice about whether to fix the source library (so that your competitors can also benefit from your hard work) or not (so that your version becomes forked, and you won't benefit from anyone else's fixes even if they do happen).

You absolutely should do all that, yes. But if you're sure of what you're doing, you've already made several changes without a hitch, you're anxious to get home early. .. It's possible to get sloppy.

And even if you don't, all it takes is to miss a line in the part of your query you highlight before pressing F5. Been there, done that.

Re: Common Sense Repairs

If "funky screwdrivers" are your biggest obstacle, just get on with it. You can buy a screwdriver with 40 different shaped bits for like $20.

Re: "With no one onboard to fix it"

Two days of fully autonomous operation is still two days. Not bad for a start.

For comparison, the Titanic had more than 900 crew, and even so that only lasted five days. And failed to make it home.

Re: Not only but also, truck mirrors

So, we need invisible mirrors too?

Great idea, what could go wrong...

Re: No sign of armament

Presumably, run away.

They don't have guns for the same reason the Hercules transport doesn't, or the Airbus A320. That's not their job.

Yes, there are a lot of words in a lot of languages to avoid. I believe international trademark lawyers have a helpful database, so it's perfectly possible to avoid them if you're prepared to put the work (and money) into it.

Well, sure. And while you're at it, probably better to stop doing business in Russia and India as well. And the EU, UK, Australia, Japan, and every other country that thinks it's "above" good ol' American law.

Of course companies will do what makes money. That's their entire job description.

Re: A potted history if 14 units alcohol/week

Unfortunately, evidence is not enough to suggest whether there was any truth in the story, or whether he simply made it up. Maybe the professor was fed up with arbitrary limits too, and the story was a way of venting that frustration.

Re: The knob......

"Black dust and gunk" sounds like an accumulation of quite-possibly-toxic mould. I hope the system was thoroughly cleaned within the next couple of hours.

An office microwave only needs one button, whose function is to run the device for precisely 30 seconds, then stop. If you want longer cooking time, press the button again - but only once it's stopped.

That means, the culprit will always be nearby.

Re: Success Rate

It's rare, but it can happen. I know at least one of our border worker cases came about that way - or at least that was the conclusion of people who spent hours on end watching CCTV footage to try and figure it out.

Re: Ah, will you not have a cup of tea father...

You don't "use" those phrases, you can only utilise them. You need those four extra letters to distract from the vacuity of the other words.

About 20 years, seems to be the average wait for those.

Re: Mother knows best

I can't be the only person who's noticed: the iPad is functionally a portable TV.

(Though come to think of it, my iPad actually has at least four buttons, not counting the screen.)

If you can indeed do without water, electricity, banking or cellphone provision, I suggest your lifestyle is probably one that is not easily - or even difficultly, come to think of it - available to most of us. "Homesteading in Wyoming" is simply not an option that scales.

I don't know what the basis of the justices' thinking is here, and I can't be bothered to find out, but one possible loophole I see in the law is that although it criminalises "exceeding authorized access" to "information from any department or agency of the United States", it's not clear that that extends to state government records. Maybe states were supposed to pass their own versions to protect their own systems, I don't know. But the defendant has tried - successfully, it seems - to frame the law as an all-or-nothing prohibition on "doing anything unauthorized on your work computer", which is surely not the intent.

That's great, but what is going to happen when you get bored enough to move on?

Re: Broad brush.

India has its strengths, but sadly it's fallen under the sway of a politician who is like a more competent, and more evil, version of Trump. Watch closely. It's become a bellwether for demagogues.

Re: Sneaky

What's the point of killing an auditor? It just means there'll be another one around tomorrow.

They're like cops. Or cockroaches.

Re: I did it my way

Really? Personally, I would rather my tax money not be given away, no strings, to plutocrats and mad scientists, but each to their own.

Re: My confusion knows no ceiling

My favourite amendment, the 16th, says states may not "deny to any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws".

By reverse incorporation, the same principle applies to the federal government.

So if there is any basis for bringing a suit in a federal court, it follows that anyone in the USA can bring that suit, and to deny them on the basis of their address would be unconstitutional.

All you need to do is identify a federal law that might be violated by refusing to consider your application. (You don't have to prove that it has been violated, you only need enough plausibility to issue the writ.) I would imagine various anti-discrimination statutes, such as the ADA, could sserve the purpose.

What he has shown is that he can build a useful and usable app, and meet needs that aren't being otherwise addressed.

That's a great ability, practically a superpower in itself - if he decides to set up his own business. But it's a very different skill set from what most employers want, and it would definitely be wasted in the public sector (where the obsession from public watchdog types is not "is he doing something useful?", but rather "is he doing what he's told?").

A government job is probably the last thing he wants.

Re: War of the Worlds

No sharks on Mars.

Re: @Allan George Dyer - National Security Law

And that is comparable - how, exactly?

Re: What part of that so people have issues with?

Standing during the national anthem is not part of any sport I know. Their contract doesn't specify it. And they're not saying anything on work time, all the explanation and debate happens elsewhere.

First, a standard issue install of Office does not include Access, much less SQL Server.

Second, what they're talking about is effectively an escalation vulnerability that affects you when someone with privileged access to a JET engine also has privileged access to a SQL server. That's why it's not a priority to fix: the answer is "well, don't give that kind of privilege to people you don't trust, then". Frankly, anyone who is vulnerable to this already has much bigger things to worry about.

Re: Don't forget the users with reading difficulties

There are lots of those. I like Lucida Console (so does Microsoft), but if you don't, there are plenty of other options. Check out Consolas, or Dina, or Bitstream Vera Sans Mono.