* Posts by Steve Knox

1972 publicly visible posts • joined 16 Jul 2011

NASA: WE'VE FOUND Four-toed NON-HUMAN FOOTPRINTS

Steve Knox
Thumb Up

Re: BREAKING: Lewis Page in misleading headline non-story shocker!

heyrick is right! The Register is the only place you can get proper rubbish these days!

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love IPv6

Steve Knox

@Lee

Which brings me to the point I bring up everywhere someone publishes an article about how great IPv6 is:

You think this article is about how great IPv6 is? I'd suggest you read it again.

Steve Knox
Boffin

RE: 254 shades of grey

Only if you're using standard RGB encoding. Numbers have this really cool property where you can map them to anything you want. Besides, both black and white can be argued to be shades of grey.

'Sex and the female brain are connected' - shock discovery

Steve Knox
Coat

Re: Vasectomy

...even past the prostrate.

Context-checker lying down on the job, eh?

GPS trigger will light LOHAN's fire

Steve Knox
Headmaster

Re: Thank you

On the contrary, in the language used by Lester, "or" is actually the correct word to use, not "and". If the devices are restricted to both 18,000m AND 515m/s, then they cannot exceed either. If, on the other hand, they are restricted to either 18,000m OR 515m/s, than they can exceed one, but not both.

If Lester had instead used the phrase "cannot exceed" rather than "are restricted to", then "and" would be the correct term to use. Remember, A && B == !(!A || !B); A || B == !(!A && !B).

Vulture Central logo pops up in prehistoric France

Steve Knox
Coat

Meh

I've read that edition. It's just Oog Orlowski moaning about the next tribe over stealing his tribe's idea for "a pointed stick" and Ugg Page claiming that overhunting of wooly mammoths was in no way related to the slightly warmer temperatures.

Oracle: Google impurifying media's precious bodily fluids

Steve Knox
Joke

Oracle just being a bitter ex?

Microsoft, 2000: "Oracle has funded or supported numerous groups that have attacked Microsoft ..., such as ...the Computer & Communications Industry Association."

2012: 'the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which Oracle says is funded "in large part" by Google.'

Awww, did the CCIA dump Oracle for Google? Is that what's really got you upset, Larry?

NASA picks the target for Curiosity's first road trip

Steve Knox
Thumb Up

Re: Good job

Any job where you can say "It is not only going to be an excellent test of our system, it should be pretty cool too" is a good job!

WikiLeaks haters launch DDoS assault on Russia Today

Steve Knox
Happy

Re: simple fix for assange

The Equador government can make Assange a diplomat, and this will give him diplomatic immunity.

Which isn't retroactive.

Besides, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the CIA or FBI planted the female rape 'victims' so they can trump up charges against him and to villainize him making him be hated by the public.

You're absolutely right there. In fact, I'd go as far as saying a genius would probably NOT figure that out.

Assange might have a huge ego, but I hardly believe that he can only rape to get laid.

That issue isn't about only. And this article isn't about Assange. Why do he and his supporters keep trying to make everything about him, again?

Plain and simple, the United States was out to get him and they'll use whatever means necessary to punish him for helping make them a laughing stock.

[citation needed]

Steve Knox
Happy

Re: Those who support Pussy Riot

What about those of use who support Pussy Riot and condemn Assange not out of some fairy-tale ideal of freedom of information, but simply because Pussy Riot sounds like a cool band and Assange has proven on several occassions that he's an asshat?

Surfing ROBO-shark hunter stalks great whites along US coast

Steve Knox

No,

but they found that the acoustic tags provided smoother, more melodic tracking than the electric ones.

Watch out, PC disk drive floggers: Cloud will rust up those spinners

Steve Knox
Coffee/keyboard

Subtitle says it all

Reliable cloudy service...

Best joke I've heard all day!

Tech hacks should admit taking corporate coin, but don't start a witch hunt

Steve Knox
Joke

Re: Engage PR containment mode

I think it'd be worth quite a bit more if Apple contacts El Reg...

Judge begs Apple, Samsung to get a room, or trial will end in tears

Steve Knox
Facepalm

Re: Left to the Jury...

americans are the only race stupid enough..

At least we're smart enough to know the difference between a race and a nationality. Oh, and we know what that "Shift" key on the keyboard does, too. Plus, some of us can actually spell "actually".

Steve Knox
Coat

I am sure i can get an apple style patent on meat between two pieces of bread.

Do that and Apple will sue you for infringing on their patent design patent.

Steve Knox

Re: Showing her bias...

When she opines that Apple and Samsung should cross-license when Samsung's case is that Apple's patents are invalid.

Not bias, practicality. Once a patent is issued, it's assumed to be valid until proved otherwise. Samsung's got a very high bar to reach, especially with a jury involved.

It can often be better (from a business perspective) to license an invalid patent* than lose a huge chunk of your business for sticking to principles.

* Not that I believe Apple wants to give them a license anyway.

Love you too. Kiss Kiss.

Text-and-drive teens ratted on by AT&T mobe tech

Steve Knox
Unhappy

Re: Call me crazy...

Because, believe it or not, that's not what usually happens. It's often quite close to what's shown in the informercials.

Steve Knox
Facepalm

Re: Hmm

A biker, eh? How are you on slippery slopes?

Apple granted patent for in-cell touchscreen display tech

Steve Knox
Facepalm

Re: This would never be a UK patent

why didn't you patent it if it was so obvious?

Steve Knox
Boffin

Re: Thinner does not equal better

No, Sony Walkman showed that the sets can intersect, but not that they are the same set. Many other devices have shown that the sets are not the same.

Saudi royals seek ban on .virgin, .sex, .catholic, .wtf and 159 MORE

Steve Knox
Childcatcher

Re: You'd think -

Ah, but the problem is, then they have to admit to the blacklisting (or lack thereof).

It's so much easier to claim moral high ground while acting the same as all base humans when "technical complexity" prevents clear delineation.

Curiosity's new OS upgrade ready to go live

Steve Knox
Holmes

Re: I have to say that the "valley's" entering the crater ...

I take it you based your assessment of those valleys on a rigorous examination of the full-resolution pictures based firmly in your extensive experience in identifying geological features via two-dimensional analysis?

Or should we dial our Commentard Expectation Meter down from "Witty Expert" to "Bitter Wannabe"?

Fujitsu trials anti-phone fraudster tech

Steve Knox
Headmaster

*Cough*

anti-phone fraudster tech

I believe you mean anti-phone-fraudster tech (or anti-fraudster phone tech, if you'd prefer.) I don't thing Fujitsu would want to be considered to be anti-phone, or involved in any form of fraudster tech...

Microsoft: It's not Metro, it's Windows 8

Steve Knox
Devil

I, for one....

will gladly call Metro "Windows 8".Then I can say the following confidently and truthfully:

Windows 8 first shipped in 2010, on a phone with Windows Phone 7. Indeed, Windows Phone 7 did not function at all without Windows 8, but Microsoft didn't officially port Windows 8 to the PC until the release of Windows 8 in 2012, which includes both a desktop and Windows 8. Developers who want to write for Windows 8 still have the option to write .NET applications if they aren't comfortable writing for Windows 8. So you don't really have to use Windows 8, even if you upgrade to Windows 8. But it's recommended that you get used to Windows 8 soon, because most likely Windows 9 will only come with Windows 8.

Some people are arguing that Microsoft should bring Windows 8 to Windows 7, to cater to those users who want Windows 8 but don't want Windows 8. But others argue that that would improve adoption of Windows 8 only at the expense of Windows 8 adoption, as people realized they could install Windows 8 without the hassle of installing Windows 8. Besides, the greatest resistance is not to Windows 8, but to Windows 8.

NASA’s new lander CRASHES AND BURNS

Steve Knox
Mushroom

Lunar Lander

Thanks for the link to the past. Now I'm sure to get even less done...

Pic is related (to my playing skill, at least.)

Office for ARM will lack features, report claims

Steve Knox
Joke

Sounds like...

Among the items to be pruned from the version of Office for ARM-based Windows RT will be macros, third-party add-ons, and support for Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).

...Microsoft are actually taking security seriously? Nah, must be a porting issue like you said.

WD's 2TB Green giant can't jam hardness into standard slot

Steve Knox
Holmes

External USB Drive

From the previous story about the color coding:

Green drives are for secondary consumer storage

See title.

If Ultrabooks lasted longer, would YOU open your wallet?

Steve Knox
Facepalm

Thanks for the press release.

The SF-2100 and -2200 Flash Storage Processors as they are called handle flash so sensitively that Ultrabook users may get an extra hour of battery life compared to other, non-specified controllers.

Well, anyone can play that game. I should know -- I'm more of an expert on lingual sophistry when compared to other, non-specified trolls.

Using Facebook causes less eco damage than farting, figures show

Steve Knox
Joke

Re: Tom Sharp quote

An analytic converter?

Steve Knox
Holmes

Cause and Effect

It does my nut in when people claim they are using "green energy" from wind farms and the like - they aren't - they are paying a premium to their electricity supplier in order to further fund R&D into renewable energy - but the actual energy flowing into their property is coming from the National Grid - and therefore from wherever the nearest power station is.

No, they're not actually receiving and using "green" power. But they are paying green energy suppliers for the electricity. Meanwhile (let's assume their electricity actually came from a coal-based plant), the coal-based plant has given them electricity without being paid (by them, anyway) for it. So they actually lose some on that deal. Someone else, who didn't choose a green supplier but happens to live close to one, is paying the "dirty" supplier but getting "green" energy.

In this scenario, who is actually responsible for the pollution caused by the "dirty" supplier? The individual who received (through no fault of their own) that electricity or the individual who paid the supplier to generate it? Conversely, who gets credit for the renewable energy, those who happened to receive it because of the laws of physics and the layout of the grid, or those who funded the research and generation?

Hooper's copyright hubs - could be a big British win with BBC backing

Steve Knox
Coat

Re: "significantly derivative"

Well first, the concept of "significant" is wholly subjective...

Tell that to a statistician.

and second, it contradicts the absolutist terms imposed by "exclusive rights".

No, it doesn't. "Exclusive rights" pertain only to works which reach a significant level of complexity to begin with (e.g, you can't claim copyright on Middle C played on a piano for one half-beat.)

If I rob your house, but don't steal a "significant" quantity of goods, does that mean I now have the moral "right" to call your goods my exclusive property?

It has been successfully argued (usually by those on your side of this debate) that copyright infringement is not theft. Since that has been well-proven, I won't bother to repeat it here. Suffice to say that one of the many differences between the two is the significance factor.

But if these "two rather weak individual cases" are not enough to convince you, I can easily furnish you with many more...

I asked for data, not anecdotal evidence. The closest you come to that is your "about 980,000" figure. But that is based on an overly broad search term on YouTube, which has so much derivative and rehashed content that I'd guess less than 1 in 50 of those results actually represents a unique case.

The "thousands of years" of contributions may not be relevant to the legal argument, but they certainly are relevant to the moral argument.

Since this is a discussion about an article about law, and not moral philosophy, your moral argument is out of place to begin with. Even so, you do no justice to it with these emotional arguments. Provide some good statistics and logical analysis rather than anecdotal evidence and emotional hyperbole (e.g, "tip of the iceberg", "go back to the days when we tamed fire", etc.)

Indeed it's the contradiction between the law and morality in copyright that I have the greatest objection to...

The law is not a moral device. It's a social construct. Copyright law, especially, is not a law of moral enforcement. I'm not going to take the time to explain this basic difference to you, as there are plenty of resources which can do that. Some of them even have pictures!

Steve Knox

Re: Edge cases

You seem to have missed the crucial point that if the entire purpose of metadata is to establish "ownership", and there are multiple instances of independently produced but essentially the same works, none of which ever contained the others' metadata to begin with, then how exactly does metatdata help the Intellectual Monopolist's cause?

And that isn't an "edge case", it's the entire foundation of Intellectual Monopoly, which claims "exclusive rights" to creative works, all of which are inescapably derivative, and that's why "creative" works within each category are all so alike. Protecting metadata in verbatim copies is therefore somewhat moot, under the circumstances, if all examples of the genre are copies anyway, and even the "original" ... isn't.

Your entire argument is predicated on the assertion that these multiple instances are the rule, rather than the exception, and that all modern works are derivative. Yet the only support you've provided for this assertion is two rather weak individual cases. Prove, with valid research and statistical analysis, that the majority of modern works are significantly derivative.

You'll notice I went from "derivative" to "significantly derivative" there. This is because it's easy to argue that nearly every modern work must be derivative to some degree. But simply using the same words or key signature or imagery is not in se plagiarism. A much greater degree of similarity between an original work and a subsequent work needs to be shown to support a case of plagiarism.

Furthermore, neither of the cases you presented involved "independently produced but essentially the same" works. In the first case, the defendants were aware of the original image and of the copyright on it (one of them had previously settled for a similarly infringing work). The second case involved the sampling, or cognizant use, of a piece of music. In both cases, the latter works were produced with awareness of preceding works and thus could not be considered to be truly "independently produced."

I'm just trying to figure out why you think your so-called "edge cases" are exceptions rather than the rule

Well, partly because that's inherent in the definition of the term "edge case", but mostly because I made the apparently incorrect assumption that you wanted to provide a logical argument rather than an emotional one, and thus could be counted on to provide a significant proportion of the evidence available. If two cases are a significant proportion of the cases which fit your argument, then we are talking about exceptions rather than the rule. If, on the other hand, you have evidence that shows that a significant percentage of copyright disputes involve "independently produced but essentially the same" works, please provide it.

As for the unlimited attribution metadata you propose, that might be difficult, given the innumerable, potentially uncredited and largely forgotten or unknown contributors, spanning thousands of years...

Well, since there is no jurisdiction where copyright extends to thousands of years, that's really not a problem. While the retention of metadata past the end of copyright might be useful for academic purposes, it's not necessary from a legal standpoint.

Finally, I think I need to explain the screwdriver/nail issue a little better to you. The primary issue that metadata governance is intended to resolve is that of orphan works (and the potential abuse of that concept.) Currently, it can be difficult for an individual who wishes to use a work to identify and thus properly compensate/attribute the original creator of the work because of missing metadata (whether cause by the original creator not including metadata or by an intermediary stripping out the metadata during some conversion process.) It is also an easy exercise for a willful infringer to remove the metadata from a work and then claim ignorance. With proper metadata governance, the missing metadata would become a very rare event, and hence the claim of ignorance of the original source would be much harder to sustain. This is a completely different issue than that of recreating a photoshopped image or sampling/remixing a piece of music. It's also very different from the philosophical argument between Intellectual Monopolists, as you call them, and Creative Anarchists, as it's beginning to appear that you are.

Steve Knox

Re: Just wondering...

How exactly would metadata help stop those dastardly "thieves" who dare to compose photos that are merely similar to others, such as in the infamous Temple Island case, for example?

In the same way that you use a screwdriver to pound in a nail. Metadata doesn't solve the problem you linked to because it's not designed to. The problem you linked to appears to be an edge case, about which even the judge involved was not happy because it wasn't really well covered by the law. I doubt that it's representative of the majority of copyright issues.

And what use is metadata when so much of what is purportedly an "original", copyrighted work is actually a blatant rip-off?

Well, in the second case you linked to, if metadata were included in the actual original, then the stripping of it to produce the rip-off would have been a crime, would it not? And leaving it in would have been the proof of copying that the original artist needed. So either way the original artist would have had some more legal recourse.

Using and preserving metadata, by law or otherwise, seems rather moot, under the circumstances. We'd need to have a voting system to decide which plagiarist's metadata to preserve, and even then it would still be a somewhat arbitrary decision, given the highly and inescapably derivative nature of all supposedly "creative" works.

No voting system would be needed. The rule would be very simple: preserve ALL the metadata. Then each work would have a derivation tree from which you could determine the sources. As a side benefit, you'd eventually be able to get a good idea of how derivative a work is just by the size of the metadata.

You can't determine the value of a solution solely by the existence of edge cases, of which there will always be some. You need to determine how effective it will be overall -- and accept a reasonable level of ineffectiveness. 100% effective solutions don't exist.

More reports that Apple plans iPhone 5 September surprise

Steve Knox
Coat

Re: Branding

I do hear there's a Welsh version coming out called the iPwd.

Steve Knox
Headmaster

Re: Tim Cooks seven incher...

This is not my opinion but the opinion of 100% of every review ever written.

When you say demonstrably false things like that, you really should not use the icon that you used.

Microsoft unveils fondle-ready keyboards, mice

Steve Knox

Re: Looks like a nice enough keyboard

"Lappy" is an Americanism? I've only heard it from Europeans.

But a quick look through the double-tounge dictionary (<a href='http://www.waywordradio.org/lappy_2/>http://www.waywordradio.org/lappy_2/</a>) does seem to indicate that the earliest use was from someone in the US.

I still feel that it's wrong to tar an entire nation or geographic region with the crimes of a few individuals, however. I suggest we use the more appropriate term "pretentious-wanker-ism".

I do, however, use the term "tabby" quite often, but in my defense, I am a cat person.

Boffins nail oceanic carbon capture process

Steve Knox
Boffin

Okay so next bit of research should be how to get the ocean to take more of the crap out of the air surely?

Nope. We already know where that will get us: ocean acidification. Look it up.

Boffins puzzled over impossibly fast ice avalanches on Saturn's moon

Steve Knox
Boffin

So any theory of long runout landslides on Earth must also work for avalanches on Iapetus.

This is a common logical fallacy. Two events with similar appearances "must" have the same explanation, even though they occur in very different environments with very different materials. It's actually quite possible that the long runout landslides and the ice avalanches are extended by entirely different factors. It's just not appealing to our human sensibilities, which tend to push us towards a single unifying explanation for everything.

Apple disappoints at first Black Hat briefing

Steve Knox
Facepalm

Re: Really?

They'd say "Microsoft is in the chip business now?"

Jury will hear Samsung wrongly trashed emails in patent trial

Steve Knox

Re: So if Apple paid nothing

If that was true, then I simply acquire a cheap FRAND patent (most of them earn very little, so this shouldn't cost too much). Then I contact apple, and tell them I want $1m per iPhone. There's no way they'll accept that, so they'll refuse.

You're missing an important piece here. If a patent is applicable to a device, the device manufacturer should never refuse to pay a license. They should negotiate the license terms. The correct response to your extortionate plan should be "$1m per device is way too high. Let's negotiate a fair and reasonable license."

At that point, you are obligated to negotiate FRAND terms because Apple agreed that licensing your patent was necessary, and agreed to negotiate terms.

If Samsung is correct, however, Apple essentially said "we don't need your stinking license", which might, if their devices are shown to be infringing, allow Samsung to charge whatever they like.

Steve Knox
Boffin

Re: Judge Dread

Presumption of innocence?

Presumption of innocence is generally applied (in the States, anyway) in criminaltrials, not in civil trials.

Oracle hurls MySQL at Microsoft database wobblers

Steve Knox
WTF?

Re: It depends, but usually MySQL is the choice

but the downside is that MS doesn't integrate well at all with the open web stack (LAMP and the like) and the Java world.

Sez who? We've got several Java systems storing their data in MS SQL right now, no problem -- and I've worked on a few projects where Apache, PHP, and even MySQL talked with MS SQL fine. I haven't done any of that work with Linux specifically, so I won't comment there, but I can safely say that 4/5 of your comment is bunk.

Steve Knox
Coat

FYI

I know Excel is not a database but people try to use it as one anyway because the standard version of MS Office doesn't include a proper one

The Professional version of Office doesn't include a proper database either.

CO2 warms Earth FASTER than previously thought

Steve Knox
Boffin

Re: What the paper in question really says...

Of course this means that CO2 increases AFTER the planet begins a warming cycle. That doth not play well with the CAGW camp, now does it?

Actually, it plays right into their hands. We already know, experimentally, that CO2 can trap heat, leading to warming. If research shows that warming is likely to increase CO2 as well, then we have a feedback loop. The faster it happens, the more vicious the cycle.

In short, if step 1 is increased atmospheric CO2 and 2 is warming, we have

1 -> 2 -> 1 -> 2 -> 1 (repeat ad infinitum.)

Steve Knox
Facepalm

Re: Reg author seems to have misunderstood paper...

The footnote seemed to be a set of typing mistakes or random cut-and-pastes; but that could be because I did not understand, "carries a three" in the first place.

Someone's never done arithmetic on paper before...

Facebook's Zuckerberg awarded privacy patent

Steve Knox
Facepalm

Re: No. Four

"Share with no-one" == just don't upload to FB.

In fact, that's probably the best privacy setting to use for pretty much everything.

Steve Knox
Facepalm

Prior Art

For example, if a user says a photo should be visible in the geographic region of San Francisco, to members of a certain group the user belongs to, and to "friends of friends," the system would add up all of these options and generate a summary explaining what it all means.

I believe Messrs. Cantor, Euler, and Venn can all show prior art.

WTF, USPTO? Seriously? I mean, really, allowing the patenting of a simple application of set theory?

Apple wins EU-wide Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 ban

Steve Knox

Re: wtf?

I think the whole problem though is the way IP is handled by the courts. If samsung had made an iTab that was an identical clone of the iPad, apple can't go to the court and get a sensible judgement just based on that. They have to sue based on very specific things (best case a design patent, but more usually stuff like patents on a particular type of scrolling or something). And the court won't accept a massive list of such features that make up the product, so they have to pick a few key features.

I think the whole problem is that IP is handled by courts. This mess is being repeated, ad nauseam, with different results, in every distinct jurisdiction in the world. End result: conflicting decisions, conflicting remedies, 600 different variations just to satisfy the different remedies. The first step in any dispute between international entities should be the selection of a single jurisdiction for the dispute. And hopefully this step would be difficult enough and take long enough to dissuade those without serious complaints.

HTML 5 gets forked up

Steve Knox
Boffin

Re: What's HTML ever done for us?

Actually, SOAP, and a large number of those standards are XML-based, which itself is based on SGML, which is an ancestor to HTML. So all of the XML standards you reference are cousins, not descendants, of HTML.