* Posts by Robert Heffernan

392 publicly visible posts • joined 2 Jul 2007

Page:

Nvidia boss: Intel suit to 'transform computer industry'

Robert Heffernan
Coat

Magic, but wholely useless

It's all good to say the PC is becoming magical again but extremely powerful graphics hardware is practically useless when game developers are dumping the PC platform like yesterdays newspaper!

It's no wonder nVidia and ATI are starting to focus the extreme number crunching performance of a GPU into other non-game or graphical related tasks. They see the writing on the wall and have started to branch out into other areas. What I feel they (or possibly myself) are missing is the scope of this redirection of focus. Apart from some minor assistance in the graphical content creation and encoding areas, for the majority of consumers GPU processing isn't really usable.

While diversification is a good thing for business, I would also be trying to slow or reverse the migration of games to games consoles. I can imagine in the console graphics chip world, nVidia and ATI have the margins on each chip negotiated to within an inch of their life, where as the markup on consumer chips would be much better so why not try and keep that market alive.

Missing dot sends Sweden tumbling off internet

Robert Heffernan
FAIL

Why?

Why does the DNS software not recognise there is a dot missing and either spew out a rather visible error, or just add the dot anyway!

Fail: Cos DNS need a major rethink!

VTOL hovership in semi-successful X-Prize attempt

Robert Heffernan
Flame

Attack of the Clone?

Is it just me, or does that rocket look an awful lot like one of Armadillo Aerospace's current version module design? Two vertically stacked tanks (Lox, Alcohol) with 2 smaller Helium tanks on the sides

It also sounds like one of their mods, and it was also attached to a lifting crane like Armadillo uses..

They say imitation is a form of flattery.

eBay boss bids for governorship

Robert Heffernan
Grenade

Public (service) support

Somehow, I don't think Mrs Whitman will be able to count on the vote of the staff of the Californian public service.

Grenade, cos' you can imagine the response of a disgruntled, recently unemployed public servant.

Scammers step up attacks on Warcraft players

Robert Heffernan
Thumb Up

@Nordrick

Blizzard are working on a major expansion/update which is reworking all the old original areas in the game which are now 5 years old and were originally developed for machines of a much lower spec.

The revamped areas are stunning to look at and are a major improvement over the original, so much so that when it comes out I will be reactivating my account!

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/cataclysm/

4chan pwns Christians on Facebook

Robert Heffernan
Jobs Horns

Plain Text??

Honestly, what kind of site stores it's users passwords in plain text! You should always hash your password column in your databases to foil these kind of attacks.

*Evil Jobs, because the devil must have been at work!

NEC fumbles towards MRAM flip-flop

Robert Heffernan
Boffin

So what happens...

If you go waving a large magnet near it and fudge the flip-flops?

Foxconn answers critics over suicidal iPhone engineer

Robert Heffernan
Grenade

Boycott??

Good luck trying to boycott foxconn products, they make everything from complete assemblies like the iPhone, to mainboards, to connectors and passive components like capacitors.

Trying to find a product that doesn't have a single foxconn component on it is going to be quite a task indeed!

BOFH: Hammer time!

Robert Heffernan
Flame

Speaking of mice...

I was once called to look at a PC that had let go of the magic blue smoke, only to find a mouse had climbed into the machine, and on top of an old internal modem.

The mouse came to grief when it decided to relieve it's bladder all over the cards High-Voltage section.

*Anyone for roast?

NASA orbiter returns first shots of Apollo moon sites

Robert Heffernan
Black Helicopters

Proof.. BAH!!

No matter what proof you put on the table, a conspiracy nut will ALWAYS reject it as fabricated.

The facts stand as I see them, We Went, and I honestly think that ALL conspiracy theorists need to form a nice orderly queue and stand in line quietly for their turn with some personal 1-on-1 time with Buzz Aldrin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOo6aHSY8hU

Clever attack exploits fully-patched Linux kernel

Robert Heffernan
Grenade

Security First

I want to know who's idea it was to have the compiler remove NULL pointer checks by default. If you are testing for NULL you are doing it for a reason!

The way I see it this is not a failure of the kernel team for not specifying the -fno-delete-null-pointer-checks compiler flag, it is a failure of the gcc team having the compiler do away with such checks by default!

I for one, would prefer a kernel that spends a few extra cycles testing for bad parameters, to getting my system reamed by some pimply script kiddie in china!

People just not that into Blu-ray

Robert Heffernan
Pirate

It's all price-point

So I have a Blu-Ray player in my Media PC but im not exactly running out to buy Blu-Ray discs en-masse due to the fact that they are charging a premium for the content. I am perfectly happy with the quality of my DVD collection on my 40" Full HD TV especially with the low price you can buy DVDs for these days.

I often wait for sales at the local K-Mart or Big W stores to pick up movies for AU$5 to AU$15 where as the Blu-Ray discs are around the AU$40 to AU$80 mark. If they slashed the price for HD content they would find the uptake of players increase.

Apple muffles PC noisemakers

Robert Heffernan
Boffin

Silencer?

If apple is talking about stuffing microphones through the guts of the PC to monitor the noise level, so it can try to balance cooling vs performance, why not just use the mics to record the sound, generate the same sound 180deg out of phase and play it through speakers to cancel out the sound of the system to almost nothing at all..

Full performance all the time, no annoying system noise!

ISS crew flees flying space junk

Robert Heffernan
Flame

Yeah! A Laser!!

Mounting a laser on the ISS would probably be a good idea, You wouldn't need to burn the junk to a crisp, just give it's orbit a nudge so it starts falling back to earth. Smaller objects would need less of a nudge. Put it under computer control and you would have a pretty effective cleaner. It wouldn't exactly be quick but at least it's better than cowering inside a tincan praying.

Flames, It should be obvious.

G.hn-ing for gigabit

Robert Heffernan
Flame

Ethernet FTW!

I recently wired my whole house with good quality CAT6 Ethernet cabling and jacks for LESS than AU$300. I get FULL gigabit speeds, I don't have the local HAM radio operators building a bonfire with a large pole sticking out the top on my front lawn, and It's all based on a tried, proven, trusted and extremely well supported standard!

If I want a Network printer installed, plug a patch cable into the wall.

If junior wants XBOX-Live in his room, plug a patch cable into the wall.

If I get a new Media PC for the lounge room, plug a patch cable into the wall.

No need to run out, spend AU$100 on a converter box to be able to plug the patch cable into the power point, only to get inferior connection speeds and a bunch of pissed off HAMs.

Earthworm blamed for laptop crash

Robert Heffernan
Flame

More Fun With Animals!

I was once called out to look at a PC that made a rather nasty crack sound, let out some of the magic blue smoke, and promptly died.

I pulled the case off the machine and promptly discovered the cooked remains of a mouse that had climbed up on to the internal modem card and decided to take a wizz all over the high-voltage line section of the card.

Surprisingly, after removing the modem (and mouse obviously), the PC booted and ran as normal!

*Flames, for obvious reasons!

Microsoft boffins devise 'secure' Gazelle browser

Robert Heffernan
Coat

Umm, No Thanks!

I don't think I'll be going near this browser. Every time I see a Gazelle, there is usually a bunch of Lions chewing on it!

*Mine's the one with "Game Warden" printed on the pocket!

Security boffins attempt to freeze out cold boot crypto attack

Robert Heffernan
Coat

Secure RAM??

Why not just build some extra functionality into the RAM modules that when the power supply to the module sags below a pre-determined voltage, it clears a register in the chip that forces a return of 0x00000000 on any memory that has not been written to since powering-up.

Something along this line would kill these cold boot attacks dead since you can't read the value of a memory address until it's been written to.

The only way I can see to get around this, you would need to supply a constant source of power to the module so it doesn't flag the memory as powered-off, and then you would need to some how provide a DRAM refresh cycle while the RAM is removed from the PC which isn't something you are gunna be able to do quickly and/or easily!

*Grabs his coat and heads to the patent office!

Israel hacks Arab TV station

Robert Heffernan
Boffin

Nuke Em!

Israel and Palestine are just a couple of thugs fighting over a stupid ball. Nuke the pair of em and let the survivors argue the smoking, glowing remains.

Google demanding Intel's hottest chips?

Robert Heffernan
Flame

Certification.. BAH!

Intel should easily be able to warrant an additional 5 degrees to the maximum operating temperature. I have run various models of Intel CPU over the years at 100% load 24/7/356 in less than ideal situations (>40deg C ambient indoors temp, Inland Australia, where else!) without a single failure.. EVER! sure, the fans are screaming and the dust filters need unclogging from time to time but you'll be surprised how much abuse PC hardware can take.

I can't see why a giant like Google would need the chips certified though, with all the cash they make and the tax deduction they could get on the cost of the CPU you would think replacing the odd statistical failure wouldn't break the bank (Which is a good thing really since the banks have managed to break themselves without outside help).

*Fire, cos it's the worst that can happen!

Judge Dredd smartshell shotguns to hit Iraq in '09

Robert Heffernan
Coat

If it's done right...

If the electronics systems in the weapon are done right, it would make it impossible to hack the ammunition since the communication between the weapon and ammo is done via electrical contacts inside the barrel before firing, including any form of wireless technology would break the $25 price point easily and is just asking to be hacked.

In regards to the weapon and ammo being stolen by enemy forces a number of techniques can be taken to limit the weapons usefulness. There is a patent held by Microsoft I believe, that uses the human body itself as an electrical communications conductor meant to relay information between devices worn by a person. Embed an authorization chip under the legitimate user's skin that communicates with the firing mechanism in the weapon when it's being held. If the chip is cooled below body temperature (soldier dies, chip cut out, etc) the authorization codes are randomized and will no longer activate the weapon. To prevent the weapon being hacked, cover all the electrical systems with potting compound and if tampering is detected, explode a small charge placed inside the potting, destroying the vital electronic systems, rendering the weapon an expensive lump of scrap. As a backup protection method also code in a device timeout, if a mission is meant to last 24hrs, program a 48hr timeout. If the weapon is not reset back at base before the timeout, the electrical system protection detonates rendering the weapon useless.

The big trick is to use absolutely no wireless communication in either the weapon or ammunition and to provide multiple layers of contingency in securing the weapon from falling into the wrong hands.

*Hangs up the lab coat, switches off the lights and goes home.

Birmingham Airport in X-rated X-ray shocker

Robert Heffernan

The long object in the top...

... looks like a hair curling iron to me, would also explain the hair curling rollers in the bottom of the case.

Feds: Search engine bride was tax evading prostitute

Robert Heffernan
Paris Hilton

@AC

"Or is the USA so backward that prostitution is illegal?"

Yup!

Apple NDA kills Jesus Phone gospels

Robert Heffernan
Jobs Horns

@Solomon

"Why can one publisher sell a book but not another one?"

Because the author of the "iPhone Open Application Development" book was never bound by the Apple SDK NDA. He reverse engineered the API before the SDK was available. The other books were written based off the information found in the official SDK and so were bound by the NDA.

FoxNews commentator Bill O'Reilly's website hacked

Robert Heffernan
Paris Hilton

What Kinda Rogue...

... administrator builds a website using unhashed passwords!

The developers and admisistrators of this site need a serious lesson in security and privacy. Not to mention this Bill O'Reilly chap needing to learn a few things about how the world, and especially the online world, really works.

Doing such a stupid thing as criticizing "hackers" for proving that a US Politician is not following the rules on government email, is just screaming out to the world "HACK ME!!"

Paris, Cos she knows the importance of using (a) good hash!

OMFG, what have you done?

Robert Heffernan

Icons...

Ok.. the new look, I can deal with... The fixed width, I can deal with.. But these icons are HORRID!

Bring back the old ones!! Or, at least add them to the new ones.

NASA preps Atlantis for Hubble mission

Robert Heffernan

@druck

"could shuttle 1 make an unmanned return to earth, and if it doesn't suffer significant re-entry damage, to auto land?"

The shuttle was never designed to fly itself, which is why the shuttle's first orbital test flight (STS-1) had a crew.

After the Colombia accident, when NASA developed the rescue mission plans, they made a cable to link the onboard general-purpose computers with the avionics systems on the flight deck to allow the shuttle to attempt to fly itself back. The cable was launched and stored on the ISS during the return to flight mission, and was brought back so it could go up with atlantis on this flight.

Funny thing is, the russian Buran shuttle was capable of flying itself and the only orbital flight it made was uncrewed since at the time, there was no life support and most of the avionics instrumentation wasn't yet installed.

US Senate wants answers on soaring text rates

Robert Heffernan
Alien

Hubble Is Cheaper!

Getting data back from the Hubble Space Telescope is cheaper than SMS!

http://www.physorg.com/news129793047.html

"The maximum size for a text message is 160 characters, which takes 140 bytes because there are only 7 bits per character in the text messaging system, and we assume the average price for a text message is 5p. There are 1,048,576 bytes in a megabyte, so that's 1 million/140 = 7490 text messages to transmit one megabyte. At 5p each, that's £374.49 per MB - or about 4.4 times more expensive than the ‘most pessimistic’ estimate for Hubble Space Telescope transmission costs."

Alien, because amanfromars has a cheaper mobile phone bill than me!

Mimosa adds files to archive cocktail

Robert Heffernan
Gates Horns

What happens if...

I send an archiving company all my backup data and one day...

* An admin deletes their entire filesystem?

* Their Hard Disks fail?

* They go titsup?

* They change their service agreement and hold my data to ransom?

* A rogue employee starts selling my confidential information?

I think i'll stick to my trusty tape backup thanks!

Stretchy 'bucky-gel' promises touchscreen video-stockings

Robert Heffernan
Coat

Problem... Solution..

AC Said : "It does kind of give the impression that flexible electronics is a solution looking for a problem."

Alan Said : "That said, I wonder if this material, made in to a body suit, would protect against tasers ?"

PROBLEM FOUND!!

If the material is more conductive than the body then it most definately would, and I would be the first to buy one of these suits before my trip to the USA in February.

Mines the one with "Taze Me Bro!" written across it.

Rockstar confirms GTA IV PC edition

Robert Heffernan
Paris Hilton

YAY!

It's about bloody time! I have been waiting patiently for this to be released on the PC. I really can't stand consoles, especially their controls geared up for right-handed people (me being a leftie) I just plain can't use them, and believe me, I have tried!

Gimme a keyboard and mouse and some serious pwnage awaits all the n00bs out there!

Paris, because I'll bet she can use a joystick just as well in either hand!

Intel says 48 core graphics is just over the horizon

Robert Heffernan
Flame

No Need!

While a nice new ultra programmable multi-core GPU would be nice, has anyone else noticed the number of PC games coming out is dropping rapidly and everything now is coming out for consoles only?

Flames because that's what I wanna do to consoles!

John Glenn blasts Moonbase-to-Mars NASA roadmap

Robert Heffernan

@Michael J Welker Jr

While this may be getting a bit off-topic, I'll rebut your arguments about charitibility.

It's easy to be the worlds most charitable nation when you are working with the sheer number of people the USA is. Now being charitable is a noble exercise and generally a good thing for everyone involved, but my argument about diverting military spending from killing and building better sabers to rattle, to medical research, free public health care, public housing, education, green sustainable energy research, etc would make the USA and indeed the world a much safer, healthier, and happier place.

When it comes to the charitability of my own nation (Australia) We are a pretty helpful ourselves, sending lots of millions of AU$ to various overseas nations when disaster strikes, we send personnel to help with aid relief, rebuilding, search and rescue, and so on. We have whole teams of medical professionals who each year, for their idea of a vacation, pack up shop in Australia, head overseas to various third-world countries and perform hundreds of complex and expensive surgeries completely free of charge.

Basically my argument was, instead of slashing space exploration, why not slash the military (in the USA and across the globe) and the world's problems would be solved, people would be safe, everyone would have a home, health care and education, no one would be staring down the tip of nuclear weapons because there would be no need for them. If thats not a realistic vision of a utopian society, I don't know what is!

Robert Heffernan
Dead Vulture

@Webster Phreaky

As Anonymous John pointed out, NASA takes 0.5% of the US Budget to explore, educate and discover peaceful uses and applications of space.

The US Military takes a whopping 3.7% of the budget to kill and maim innocent women and children, invade sovereign nations with deliberately falsified "intelligence" about WMDs, and generally working out new and more efficient ways to secure oil.

I am thinking if they took the US$439,300,000,000 military budget and spent it on medical research then the whole world would be a much better place, but I am guessing that by your comment about there had better be oil in space, you would be one of the ignorant Americans who has no issue with killing for oil.

Also, if you done a little look into what the latest information the space program has gleaned from it's 0.5% share of the budget, it's that Saturn's moon Titan has more liquid hydrocarbon (oil) reserves just laying on it's surface in lakes than the US could EVER use.

Dead bird because thats how you look when you stand between America and it's oil!

Scientists ponder future Moon mission activities

Robert Heffernan
Coat

Send Robots... The Completely Wrong Attitude!

While sending robots may be cheaper and safer, it is not the right attitude to have. Sending a bunch of machines to do the exploring and sending back selected samples has is not able to really give people the same in-situ information and context that a person can. It also goes against the human spirit of exploration and discovery.

If everyone just stayed in the nice safe and inexpensive confines of home and sent the robots to do the exploring then the world would be a completely different place.

Africa would have a starving human population in the billions while the President of the United States would be Optimus Prime and China would be ruled by Megatron and his band of metallic misfits.

In relation to the poor widows left behind after an accident, what did you expect when you are pushing the boundries of human intelligence and ability! People have died in space exploration and there are more to come. It's a sad thing to happen but it's necessary and unavoidable part of the adventure.

Take the early ocean exploration finding new continents like the Americas or Australia. Just because a few boats sank killing the crews and making a whole stack of widows, doesn't mean you stop exploring.

Then you got aviation, just because a few early planes crashed didn't bring the whole thing to a screaming halt, the planes crashed, killed some people, others worked out what went wrong and worked out ways to make it not happen again, or at least not happen so often.

Mines the US$22,000,000 airtight one with the big bulky boots and fishbowl shaped hat with "NASA" printed on the sleeves.

Nvidia launches GTX 200 series GPUs

Robert Heffernan
Coat

@Daniel Hobson

If you know the wattage of the card then some basic maths will give you the amps..

Watts = Volts x Amps

so

Amps = Watts / Volts

19.66A = 236W / 12V

Mines the one with the pocket protector and slide rule.

Biofuel 2.0 gets off ground in Kiwi airliner trial

Robert Heffernan
Coat

Maybe greener with less research....

"why can't some big research-based companies look into such gems as the hydrogen-fuelled tube vehicle: http://www.fuelcellpropulsion.org/PublicOutreach/Websites/Publications.htm"

I read some place that if you took a TransRapid Maglev train (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transrapid), stuck it in a tube with the air pumped out so that the pressure in the tube was equivalent to being at an altitude of 30,000ft the train would easily be capable of 1,500km/h+ and it's purely electrically based.

No need to have a tube loaded full of explosive hydrogen. No tanks full of highly reactive pure oxygen. No need to develop aerostatic hydrogen bearings. No massive power-hog water splitting plants to get your massive quantities of hydrogen and oxygen.

The upside of the maglev train system is that in an emergency, all you need to do is blow some safety covers on the tube to allow it to re pressurize to normal atmospheric air pressure, eliminating the need to vent massive quantities of hydrogen. If there is a major failure in the train (train wreck) then you don't risk a Hindenberg type disaster.

You can also line the outside of the maglev's tube with solar panels to provide power generation for the system reducing or eliminating the use of any non-green forms of power generation.

Then the fact that the maglev is a proven technology with systems in service around the world, and not a "Hindenberg-in-a-can" theoretical system, should make this the much better option.

Mines the one made of kevlar with the nomex outer lining, and breathing apparatus.

Xbox 360 'eaten' by alligator

Robert Heffernan
Coat

If you look...

If you look at the pictures, the ventilation holes in the console are not obstructed so the machine will still vent the heat the same as any unmodded machine.

Mines the one with the hood, facemask and 'House of Kolor' logo

Oz driver sticks seatbelt on slab of beer

Robert Heffernan

@Andy Worth

"I was led to believe that the Aussies can drink, not that they are a bunch of girly poofs who drink beer in just over half-pint measures."

Aussies CAN drink! The 30 can block would have been the beer supply for one person alone. No point having too much in a can, means it takes longer to drink and you risk it getting warm.

Once it's warm you can't drink it, so it goes to waste, and wasting a beer is an indictable offense around here.

Australian man killed by suicide robot

Robert Heffernan
Coat

Look at it from his perspective!

As an Aussie myself, I feel a certain obligation to defend the poor old guy.

Australian nursing homes over the last few years have been highlighted to be in a rather poor state of affairs (and I feel a sense of shame over it). The staff treat the residents with disrespect and abuse, the ones who are no longer able to take care of their own toilet needs are often left for hours on end sitting in bed in their own waste. There have even been deaths from outbreaks of diarrhea from poor food preparation in nursing homes.

Needless to say that the nursing home system here is in a piss-poor state and is in dire need of an overhaul.

Then there is the family, they really need to take a long hard look at themselves. The gentleman in question would have spent many many years working hard to provide for them, only to be told in his later years by the ingrates that he isn't wanted and is being put in one of the afore mentioned nursing homes while they sell off his home and all his belongings, presumably to cash-in on property prices.

Personally, if it was me, the "robot" I built wouldn't have been for outdoors use. I would have mounted a collection of guns under the kitchen table for the next time I invited the ingrates over for dinner.

Mines the one with the frag grenades and "Death To Ingrates" on the back!

NASA issues revised 2008 shuttle launch schedule

Robert Heffernan

Leave Em?? Not Possible

Well, the shuttle was never designed to stay in orbit perminantly. It uses consumables at a steady rate and when they run out, the shuttle's systems will shut down. The ISS on the other hand is designed to say up for an extremely long duration and it's consumables are used at a much slower rate, with top-ups coming via the shuttle and the progress supply craft.

Also while the shuttle is attached to the station the shuttle helps keep the station in correct orbit and orientation since the added mass of the shuttle to the structure changes the mass and center of gravity and the ISS's orbit and attitude control systems can't cope. Once the shuttle (if it were to become a perminant fixture) ran out of supplies, it could no longer help keep the station in correct alignment. Also, the shuttle isn't capable (as far as I know, im not a Chinese contractor ;P ) of having it's OMS fuel supply topped-up in orbit.

The shuttles wouldn't exactly rust if they were to retire on the ground. The Smithsonian will get one to keep in perfect climate-controlled condition, and as they start to be taken offline, they will be used as spare parts for the ones still flying. Pretty undignified way to retire if you ask me!

Space nuke boffin: NASA Moonbase needs nuclear rockets

Robert Heffernan

Multiple Responses

Re: Nice

You won't need to worry about storing a spent nuclear rocket motor. Once it's in space you have a couple of good options available to you that aren't available to high-level nuclear waste on earth.

1: Lunar Storage - Dig nice deep pits on the moon and bury the waste there. No need to worry about possible environmental damage because there is no environment to speak of.

2: Extreme-Orbit - Put the spent engines in an orbit that will take say, oh.. 240,000 years to come back to the Earth, and safely dispose of it when it returns.

3: Solar Furnace - Load a stack of engines up with sensors & cameras (for the science value) and shoot that puppy at the sun! Problem Solved!

Re: why hydrogen?

They use Hydrogen as a reaction mass because they can store so much more of it in liquid form in the fuel tanks.

Page: