* Posts by F111F

271 publicly visible posts • joined 27 Jul 2010

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Accelerating universe expansion discovery snags Nobel Prize

F111F
Holmes

What if They're Wrong?

What if the universe isn't homogenous and we are in a localized "current" that only makes the universe look like it's expanding, requiring "dark energy" to make all the pieces fit? Do they have to give the award and money back?

Gutsy golf-club granny collars crim in Flying Squad bust

F111F
Big Brother

Intent?

You can be charged with intent to resist? How does the prosecutor prove this, and isn't this a bit Minority Report-ish?

El Reg's NAOMI rocket throws launch-pad strop

F111F
Thumb Up

Two Things...

A) Love the duct tape on the Spirit of Columbia...

B) Where do I get a Special Projects Bureau t-shirt? Surely sales of which would promote the rise of "LOHAN"?

Anonymous hacks US gov contractor, airs dirty laundry

F111F
WTF?

Secure Internet?

O.K., why hasn't someone developed a secure Internet protocol that we can just start using and make hacking a thing of the past? Wouldn't this be worth billions?

Facebook honeytrap used in Belgian hypermart blag

F111F
WTF?

Belgian Cops Website...

is in Dutch (German?), except for "Home, Contact, faq, Downloads, and Sitemap" in the upper right corner. Is there a reason why these terms aren't translated as well? Are these terms fixed? Are they just that common that everyone recognizes them? Or, was some IT guy lazy and didn't bother converting when he built the website?

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Blu-ray extended edition

F111F
Angel

You Misssed...

a Balrog and the fall of Gandalf, the flight/fight in Moria, 2 preciousss Elven women (Tyler, Blanchett), Weathertop, and Hugo Weaving playing the good guy for once.

Icon for Cate...worth the price of admission alone.

NASA eyes Atlas V for 'naut-lifting duties

F111F
Paris Hilton

I Dream Of Jeannie Remake...

Let's see: A) Beautiful women in skimpy costumes, check; B) Rockets, check. Works for me!

Paris, for well, innit obvious?

CERN 'gags' physicists in cosmic ray climate experiment

F111F
Coat

Circumspection vs Obeisance?

It's one thing to expect your scientists to have some circumspection when it comes to offering their opinion on what the results of one experiment/study has on climate change. It's quite another to order their silence. And scientists wonder why the average non-scientist thinks there are shenannigans going on behind the scenes...

I'll get my coat, but the IPCC has forbiden me from wearing it in public and I don't want to jeopardize my funding stream, so I'll just fold it over my arm and proclaim that the coat was available to the public for their viewing pleasure.

Mystery of David Attenborough's garden skull cracked

F111F
Holmes

Speedy

Located, captured, tried, convicted, sentenced, and executed within 4 months. Nowadays you can't even get a trial date in that short a time, let alone finish the process.

Sherlock, for, well, you know...

Moderatrix kisses the Reg goodbye

F111F
Megaphone

Shirley...

There must be a playmobile reconstruction of Sarah's last day at the Reg in the works eh?

Atlantis go for 8 July blast-off

F111F
Megaphone

Room for Sarah?

Isn't there room for up to 7? Didn't anyone think of throwing a few journos on there for the last flight, record the whole thing, etc? Personally, I vote for Sarah Bee, as she sends most of us into orbit on occasion...only right for a turnabout.

Woman dies of heart attack at own funeral

F111F
Coat

Obligatory...

Miracle Max: Whoo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there's usually only one thing you can do.

Inigo Montoya: What's that?

Miracle Max: Go through his clothes and look for loose change.

...mine's the one with The Princess Bride in the pocket.

RAF Eurofighter Typhoons 'beaten by Pakistani F-16s'

F111F
Boffin

What Were the ROE?

Before anyone goes too far (like that ever happens at The Reg), what were the conditions for the fight? Were the PAF given a primo set up? Were the RAF handcuffed by certain restrictions? Remember a few years ago when the Indian Air Force "won" against US fighters? It was primarily because the ROE (Rules of Engagement) put the IAF in the best possible position to start each fight, not because aircraft or training were lacking. Sometimes air forces do that to make the exercise more interesting to crews on both sides--put the better ones into a box and see if they can figure a way out, and give the others a fighting chance to win.

I've been on many deployments where superior aircraft were handcuffed by either restricting weapons, tactics, or both. On one we had F-15s vs F-4s (OK, it was a while ago), and we handily beat the F-4s until the last day when they went 16v4 and finally got one of our F-15s. That's not to say training and experience aren't important. I saw two experienced F-4 jocks cream two inexperienced F-15 pilots on the first day of another week long deployment. After that, the learning curve was fairly steep and the F-4s could only get draws at best. By the end of the week, it wasn't fun for the F-4 guys, so they started imposing restrictions on the F-15s to make it interesting. Same thing could have happened here with the RAF vs PAF.

Texas cinema texter becomes foul-mouthed movie star

F111F
Coat

You Must Have Spock's Ears...

for, unless the movie is about grass growing, the sound levels usually leave me deaf to normal sound levels for a few minutes afterwards. And, as I've spent most of my working life around running jet engines, that takes a LOT of noise to do.

...mine's the one with the smuggled-in crisp packets in the pockets...

WW2 naval dazzle-camo 'could beat Taliban RPGs'

F111F
Mushroom

Take a Page From History...

Cut out pages of the Quran and paste them all over your vehicle, ala the Battle of Siffin on 10th Safar, 36...or 28 July 657 for you infidels. Voila, no more RPG threat. 'Course, if that fails, see icon, attached.

Stealth hovercraft armada poised to invade South Korea

F111F
Boffin

Radar, not Sound

If parent was making a joke ignore post below, otherwise carry on.

"Stealth" normally refers to radar detection, which is usually at much greater ranges than sound detection. At 60mph, the reaction time is very short for sound detection (seconds/minutes), compared to a radar detection (minutes/hours) depending on where listening and radar posts are positioned at, how stealthy the Nork craft actually are, etc.

Reg hack applauds asinine augmentation

F111F
Go

Boffin..

For a smart ass....

Google Chrome OS: Too secure to need security?

F111F
Coat

Live-in Virus?

Sooo, when your four year old finds your paper notebook and scribbbles on every page, does that make him/her a virus or trojan?

Mine's the one with the steno pad in the pocket...

ESA: British Skylon spaceplane seems perfectly possible

F111F
Go

CG Issues

Since the thing is mostly fuel tanks fore and aft, it will be interesting to see how they manage to maintain CG (Center of Gravity) as it burns the fuel.

Star probe Kepler finds many multi-world alien suns

F111F
WTF?

You Do Know...

that more $$ are spent yearly on pet food than space budgets...right?

Glass aeroplanes and iPads on the way, say boffins

F111F
Paris Hilton

To Quote My Wife...

"stiffness isn't everything, but it is a good start." Aircraft parts have to have flexibility as well. I'd like to see a LOT of testing on how well this "wondro-stuff" handles repeated loading over thousands of cycles.

Paris...the patron saint of stiffys

MIRACULOUS new AIRSHIP set to fly by 2013

F111F
Go

Yes, Please Do Explain...

preferably with pictures and/or video. It is Friday, after all...

Pakistani IT admin leaks bin Laden raid on Twitter

F111F
Pint

A Well Done!

..to the SEAL team that got 'im. First one's on me, lads.

Revealed: Secret security plan should Kate leave Wills at the altar

F111F
Pint

Well Done!

Hoisting one for Mssr. LaHussy...

US Supremes deal death blow to class action lawsuits

F111F
Coat

Solution...

Geez, the whining and complaining...

You all love to hack the items you buy, so hack the sales agreements. Strike out the offending portions, hand it back and if they accept, you're good to go. For those purchasing on-line, put out a program that allows us to hack the sales agreements and strike out offending portions.

Next, identify those corporations that keep these items in their contracts and urge everyone to not buy from them. Corporations are moved only by $$. Hit them in their pocketbook and they'll change their tune readily enough.

Mine's the one with the new sales agreement in the pocket...

Pope says gravity proves technology can't supplant God

F111F

You Didn't Know Galileo...

Just how old are you that the church "lost" you when Galileo was put under house arrest? Also, you might want to reconsider why Galileo was put under house arrest...not because he was right, but because he couldn't prove it. He was given the opportunity to explain his proof, but utterly failed to do so, because Galileo didn't have the maths to prove his version was incontrovertible. However, he WAS an arrogant fool who believed he could go about teaching whatever he wanted. It was for his insistence on teaching what he couldn't prove that Galileo was put under house arrest.

Next, I would argue every institution and every nation has it's share of scofflaws, murderers, lunatic leaders, and insanity. That is the nature of man. And, unfortunately, the Church on Earth is also run by man, who sometimes errs, commits greivous crimes, etc. Yet, the Church continues to stand and thrive for good people do step up and work hard to rid the Church of such evil that plagues the rest of mankind. It's a never-ending fight and one that will continue until the Second Coming (whenever that is). So, don't blame God for the work men do. Going further, you might as well give up on everything ever attempted anywhere at anytime by man--science, literature, government, art, industry, family, the internet, The Reg, etc just because someone, somewhere did something bad in each of man's endeavours.

I suspect, if you count, many more wars have been fought over territory, title, power, etc, than over religion.

As for the ""Thou Shalt Not Kill" thingie"--it's actually "murder", as in illegally taking a life.

F111F

Greeks Once More and Forever It Seems

Maybe we should make interchangeable the "Greeks" of old and the "geeks" of today...

1 Corinthians 1:18-25, and 1 Corinthians 2: 6-8

F111F
Coat

For How Long?

Tell you what, I'll wager your next month's pay you can't keep your arms raised forever, or more probably, more than an hour without external support, ergo, gravity wins and you lose once again.

Now, apply that to the Pope's message about Man trying to be like God and you're on the right track...

Mine's the one with the Bible in the pocket...

So, what's the best sci-fi film never made?

F111F
Thumb Up

Von Neumann's War

Lots of Sci-Fi and military action with BONUS naked people (in the beginning, at least).

iPads mooted for Qantas flight manuals

F111F
Boffin

But a Lot Heavier, Bulkier, and Expensive

Aircraft maps have to be updated every 28 days if I'm not mistaken, and en-route charts take up a LOT of physical space (a large briefcase). iPads are just one of the tablets being considered/approved for use in the air. This will have several impacts: 1) Fewer maps have to be printed out, saving paper and costing less to airlines/airports paying people to replace charts; 2) Easier to carry on-board; 3) Depending on software and tablet, could be easier to sort/find the correct maps required for review.

As for losing all engines and ditching in a river, you wouldn't be seriously suggesting the crew is taking time to look at en-route charts, would you? Methinks the first officer (probably) would be reading the boldface steps on the laminated paper checklist kept handy to his/her seat, while the captain is "doing things" such as flying the aircraft (or attempting to steer a few tons of dead weight to the place least likely to cause his imminent doom).

US Army releases new vid of Judge Dredd computer smart-rifle

F111F
Grenade

Brits Invented Friendly Fire

1471-Barnet, War of the Roses; 1815-Light Dragoons, Waterloo; 1939-HMS Oxley; 1941- HMS Sheffield;1945-Lubeck Harbor; 1982-AAC Gazelle, 3rd Battalion Paras vs A and C companies, SBS vs SAS, Falklands; 2003-Queens Royal Lancers, Iraq; 2007-Danish Royal Life Guards, Afghanistan; 2009-Royal Military Police Officer, Afghanistan; etc, etc.

UK gov 'draws US attention' to Bradley Manning concerns

F111F
FAIL

Military Rights

Wrong. Under the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice), Private Manning has a variety of rights, and they don't "vanish". While military members may not have exactly equal rights as civilians, they have many of the basic ones. Under the UCMJ, defendents have rights to silence, an attorney, be informed of the nature of the charges, be told of their rights, trials by either jury or judge, automatic appeals for certain punishments, etc.

Manning's treatment while being detained is consistent with other suicide watch procedures at civilian prisons, including removal of anything that could be used to cut, hang, or choke himself to death. That means nudity, constant surveillance, and sometimes not even a blanket or mattress to sleep on. If prisoners are deemed likely to self-inflict wounds, they can be restrained as well.

Final words to the UK Parliament: Butt out.

Europe to get space radiation-storm warning service

F111F
Megaphone

Duplication?

Can't they get what they want from here?: http://spaceweather.com/

HMS Ark Royal goes under the hammer

F111F

Better Picture to Compare

http://media.defenseindustrydaily.com/images/SHIP_CV-74_USS_Stennis_and_CV_HMS_Illustrious_lg.jpg

Lindsay Lohan ditches her surname

F111F
Thumb Up

How About...

Lifted (by) INflation Device, Stratosphere Aircraft, Yar

Capitalism killed the Martians, suggests Hugo Chavez

F111F
Happy

George Washington

Not all of them...

MoD rejects Gaddafi low-flying aircraft complaint

F111F
Flame

@ Exactly

Ah the Old West and it's "He drew first" rule. Nice, gentlemanly even, but stupid in war. Lessons from places like Vietnam taught us that the "wait for him to fire first" rule is a good way to die, especially with an SA-5 coming up at around Mach 4... No, if you're going to go in, do so with all guns blazing, hit first, and hit as hard as you can.

Frankly, it didn't matter what was hit, when the Western nations (where is the Arab League?) started military ops, a number of fence-sitters were going to choose sides, one way or the other. Any damage was (and is) being used by pro-Khaddafy supporters as the "Crusader and Colonialist" forces once again taking on Libya.

I do agree this is very probably a tribal war, and IMHO, a civil war we need to stay out of with exceptions for protecting humanitarian relief efforts in refugee areas only. IF the opposition forces can consolidate power, IF they give sufficient assurances of democratic intentions, and IF it looks like they have a fair chance at succeeding, only THEN should democratic nations (Western, Arab, etc) should be willing to step in and support the opposition. But, to say Oddessy Dawn is about protecting civilians as the current press releases do say, is pure horse hockey. OD is about punishing Khaddafy and supporting opposition forces in a civil war. Only, we have no idea who these opposing forces are or what they stand for (besides being opposed to Khaddafy). For all we know, it may be Al-Qaida in Northern Africa fomenting this insurrection (probably not), or they could be an opposing tribe that will be even more repressive (much more probable), and will we step in then to "protect civilians" when they start a genocide against Khaddafy's tribe?

Hadron Collider 'could act as telephone for talking to the past'

F111F
WTF?

Fermi's Paradox

So...if we're making these "singlets" in the future that travel back in time, where are they? Or, is there a detector piece of the puzzle missing that wasn't explained?

EA blocks user from game after alleged forum outburst

F111F
Stop

More like...

You buy something, you are unhappy, you go to their forums and insult the entire company with what could easily be taken (and was) as hate speech, and somehow you expect no repercussion. It's not 1984, it's lunacy.

Discovery glides into history

F111F
Pint

Farewell

Hoisting one to a grand ship...

Captain Kirk hails space shuttle Discovery

F111F
Headmaster

Split Infinitive (sic)

After all these years, you STILL won't give on that? For once, just go with the common usage, will you?

Icon is for The Reg...

NASA's Glory climate-data sat crashes into Pacific on launch

F111F
Boffin

Short Answer: No

Long Answer: 1) Splashed down in water thousands of feet deep; 2) Hit the water at (probably) several hundred mph and is now in little, tiny pieces; 3) Not designed to float, though some bits/pieces might, so...no.

Solution found for climate change: Nuclear war

F111F
Thumb Up

It was Major "King" Kong

Slim's character was a Major, not a general, if you were referring to the "iconic" symbol of him riding the nuke out of the weapons bay of his B-52. Still one of my favorite movie scenes...

Eurofighter Typhoon: It's EVEN WORSE than we thought

F111F
Boffin

Guns, guns, guns...

And that type of thinking led the US to remove the gun from the F-4---bad mistake that was eventually fixed in late models. That's why all subsequent fighters still have guns, because you DO get into close-in turning fights that a missile won't work in; or you've used up your 4 to 8 missiles, but you can squirt off a couple of rounds of 20 or 30mm and make the other guy's bad day even worse.

Chemists create current-bearing plastic

F111F
Boffin

Based on Point of View

If the bird survived the impact, it would be called a 747 strike in the bird's medical forms. But since we're talking about damage to the aircraft, and the likelihood of a bird surviving said impact is low (though not zero) it's a birdstrike.

F111F
Boffin

Actually...

It's the maintainers who do the standing around debating who is junior so they then have to scrape up bits/pieces for identification (of species) for birdstrike avoidance planning. That could be flying at different altitudes, routes, etc based on migrations, local bird attractors (golf courses, ponds, etc).

Storm brews over Chinese synchronised goldfish

F111F
Coat

Fish Whisperer?

Maybe he just talked the fish through their pain and anguish over their diminished self-worth, and helped them find a collective super-ego in synchronized swimming..it's what Dr. Phil and Oprah would do...

Mine's the one with the copy of Oprah magazine in the pocket...

Coming soon: Die Hard 5 - The Zimmer Frame

F111F
Thumb Up

Reprise Hudson Hawk?

Actually, I liked Hudson Hawk and have been (secretly) hoping for a sequel...

Wooden spaceship descends into Moscow sandpit

F111F
Paris Hilton

Money for Nuthin', Chicks for Free...

The "fake" crew will be media darlings for a few weeks. The "real" crew will have it made just like in the Dire Straits song...

Paris, 'cause you just know she's gonna have one, two, or all of them...

Ambulance dispatch system hit by virus: reports

F111F
WTF?

When?

will the white hats come up with a way to not only disable viruses, but track down and identify the black hats who perpetrate these things? Or, are they likely to be the same people, working both sides as they feel the urge?

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