* Posts by Dan Paul

1582 publicly visible posts • joined 3 Jul 2007

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Google designer quits over performance obsession

Dan Paul
Flame

Reminds me of my Strength of Materials Prof.....

This reminds me of what my Strength of Materials professor said in class one day...

"The only thing an "Architect" should be allowed to do, is pick the paint color and wallpaper, that is AFTER the Mechanical Engineers design and build the building".

Fact is your typical "Marketing" and "Mid Level Management" people suck the butts of monkeys and are as useless as teats on a Boar hog. Too bad they don't get let go before the productive members of a corporation do.

Mormons demand ICANN plugs net smut hole

Dan Paul
Flame

Religious Right Banning Porn is Like Pot Calling Kettle Black

The idea of the "Religious Right Wing " calling for port or IP blocking of porn sites is so ludicrous it makes me heave chunks. Aren't they the ones who stopped the .XXX domains from happening that would have made it easy for simple porn site filtering?

The fact is that Fundamental Religion (of any variety) is even more sinister than ANY kind of porn.

Puritanistic views actually create the attractiveness of pornography and sex crime as in "you want what you're not supposed to have" as well as helping to create the "Kinks" in people that porn vendors try to accomodate.

So to all you Fundamentalists out there, quit trying to justify your lustful thought's for your 13 year old 1st cousin and stop trying to take away other peoples freedoms by imposing your sick version of religion on others. After all, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" (and those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw them)

Mozilla comes out in support of Brussels IE on Windows findings

Dan Paul
Flame

EU Judges have never even used a computer!

I have a great idea. Why don't we have the entire EU judicial panel (individually) each try to install Windows XP Pro on a new computer without including browser integration. Then let's have them try to run Windows or Microsoft Update.

Any bets on how many of them have to call a professional in to get the damn thing working?

Any bets on how fast that PC is P0wned after trying to download the updates unsucsessfully from somewhere other than Microshaft because of browser incompatability?

Use some common sense, anyone can add a browser after the fact; even the idiots at the EU.

If you want a Windows OS, you still want IE because you will need it for commercial and banking websites that aren't compatible with (non MS browser flavor of the week).

Also, quit bitchin about the integration because that "functionality" often works in favor of (non MS browser flavor of the week) being able to work similarly to IE so LUSERS can get some use out of the computers they bought.

First Windows 7 beta puts fresh face on Vista

Dan Paul
Gates Horns

Is that all there is?????

Honestly, there has to be more new to Win7 than what the article says or is this a teaser article giving us the dribs and drabs over the course of the show?

Last year when I installed Vista Ultimate (version 0 on my Intel P35 Core 2 Duo 2.66 with 4 gigs of ram), it performed so badly that I would gladly have committed a capital offense on any nearby person who let on they were from Microshaft.

From the first day, the damn thing would not let me have "authority" to change my printer settings. Two weeks part time nights trying to get help from MS (Astonishingly, they did respond and work with me diligently via email to resolve my problems to no avail) and I finally had to give up.

That same machine is running XP Pro SP3 now and has never crashed or locked in a year. I feel much better now, but the fact remains that I paid too damn much money for a product that did not work as promoted.

If SOMEONE ELSE proves that Win7 will work properly then Microsoft owes me a free upgrade ON DISC, not a download or an update.

EFF wins request for reexamination of ringtone patent

Dan Paul
Flame

You mean like the MOOG Synthesizer????

I just looked at the patent briefly and I'm no expert. However, outside of the MIDI did not this all happen with the MOOG synthesizer a very long time before even Microsoft could have been involved?

Gov beta test for grid-friendly, carbon-saving smart fridges

Dan Paul
Thumb Up

Building Control Systems are one answer

I work in the Building Automation business in the USA and these systems perform load shedding for commercial & institutional buildings on demand.

If there is a high demand for electricity, the power companies can tell their customers to go into load shedding mode and the customer uses their building automation system to reduce lighting, heating and air conditioning loads. When the power shortage is over, the equipment is brought back online in staggered sequence to prevent usage spikes.

Of course the building has to be designed to use these Building Automation Systems properly but the fact remains that the technology is already here, it's not being used to the fullest potential.

In California, they even have a pilot project that allows a homeowners thermostat to be remotely controlled by the power company in the case of power shortages.

So let me know how you feel about the power company controlling your personal comfort or even your refrigerator. I'm sure you'll have something to say.

The New Green Aristocracy

Dan Paul
Flame

Obama Smith doesn't need a pill, you should listen to him!

Maybe we should step back a minute and ask ourselves why we blindly believe people with degrees? Is it a lack of self worth? Is common sense and keen observation less valuable than a piece of paper? Just look at the total CO2 emissions from one volcaninc eruption like St Helens and then honestly look me in the face and tell me that the CO2 emissions from 250 years of industrialization have a greater effect. I dare you. I do not trust politicians, statistics or damn liars. I do not give consent for others to make any decisions, as important as these, for me.

I learned a long time ago that both Religion and Science are imperfect and there are no absolute truths in either.

Why should us "Skeptics" be prevented from questioning the so called issue of "global warming". I'll be damned if I am going to suffer rationing and taxation on my carbon footprint because some "Enviro-Lobbyist" pays off the politicians to make law in their favor. They are no better than the Big Oil Lobbyists and ANY politician that puts "Special Interests" above the best interest of the common man is guilty of treason plain and simple. Last I looked, the penalty for treason was death on both sides of the pond.

The following is a bit of wisdom from America's Founding Fathers. Too bad they can't come back to haunt the lives of a few select politicians today. Obama Smith may just have hit the nail squarely on the head, though "Oswalds" was a bit extreme. It IS time for a revolution!

Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

-declaration of independance

The latest EDI money saver? Paper invoices

Dan Paul
Pirate

Sometimes you have to say NO! to the customer!!!!!

Most of the displeasure with customer changes apears to be the end result of a salesperson who can't say no to the customer. Or at least one that can't explain why the changes will cost more.

For example: Customer suddenly doesn't like the "look" of a particular agreed upon "document" format, decides to change it, and when discussed with their EDI suppliers salesdroid he/she says "Sure we'll do that for you, no charge" when all the while the people who actually make things work say "Are you out of your frikkin mind!!!!!! That will take an entirely new map and new fields in the database". This problem is due to the sales department never having to understand HOW something gets done, it just magically "appears".

Customer Rule to Remember... For the 10% of your customers that cause 90% of your problems; tell them to go to hell (nicely) and give them your competitors number. That way you are rid of an unrewarding relationship and have time to find others that make money for your company all the while your competitor is saddled with the worst of all possible customers wasting his time and resources trying to please the impossible dream.

Mazda takes RX-8 for a spin on 'hydrogen highway'

Dan Paul
Flame

@Richard Smith - Well Done!

Mr. Smith is absolutely correct, the "Hydrogen Economy" IS a complete fraud!

He did not mention that another way to make hydrogen is through electrolysis (breakdown salt water with electricity) but that method also makes NaOH (Lye) and Chlorine. Both materials are toxic and there is a surplus of these chemicals now that the paper industry is using less and less of them to make white paper.

The amount of energy required to make ANY form of Hydrogen is far greater than the hydrogen will produce in any form of engine or fuel cell. The amount of energy required to cool, pressurize and store Hydrogen exceeds 100's of times the amount that the hydrogen could produce by being burned in a combustion engine or fuel cell.

Millionaire T Boone Pickens is correct when he says that natural gas is the easiest way to take the world off "fossil" fuels and NG is very clean burning when the engine is properly tuned AND the technology can be applied to any existing auto. Methane or natural gas, in addition to drilled wells can also be "catalytically cracked" from Coal and Tar Sands, and this process can also be used to clean up the stack emissions from existing oil refineries and make NG in the process. Methane can also be cracked from various types of alcohols so it can be a bit greener if need be.

Unfortunately since Methane is CH4, you WILL create one CO2 molecule for every two H2O molecules, but since there are typically no long chain hydrocarbons (like gasoline) that produce uneven combustion, the exhaust will not have much odor and there will be no soot.

The real breakthrough in electric vehicles will come from lightweight fuel cell technology to make electricity directly from cellulosic bio-alcohol and have batteries only for when you are out of alcohol and need to get to the next fueling station.

El Reg had an article a few days ago about DARPA looking for vendors to supply such technology to power portable military gear.

Let's spend $750 BILLION on that technology instead of blowing it on the financial "industry" (Read Parasites) and see what that does to OPEC!

Flame Icon for Combustion!!!

Wind farm wound down on air traffic fears

Dan Paul
Boffin

Wind, Radar Etc.

The problem with Radar and wind turbine is NOT EMI (electromagnetic interference) but shading and reflection of the signals.

Have you ever heard your voice through the blades of a fan? Like a fan, the turbine blades will "chop" the signal and cause weird reflections of the signal. If the radar pulse is delayed or distorted, the distance reading will be incorrect. If there is a reflection of the signal, the direct reading will be incorrect.

As to the question of 5 versus 6 wind turbines, it might be a function of allowable signal loss being exceeded with 6 but not with 5.

US man cuffed for executing lawnmower

Dan Paul
Flame

@Kimo 50%=F

I hate to correct you but one of the major reasons why we here in the USA HAVE the 2nd Amendment is to prevent the existing government from taking away our other rights. Kind of tough to do now with only SEMI-AUTOMATIC weapons and no privately owned functioning tanks (sigh, we'll figure something out soon)

Yes, it DOES mean that the average citizen is supposed to help and/or initiate the overthrow of an unjust government (just like the one we had in the early 1700's). Read what Thomas Jefferson had to say about having a revolution every 20 years or so.

By the way, the US Supreme Court just re-validated the 2nd amendment, citing it was an INDIVIDUALS RIGHT to BEAR ARMS, not just in the circumstance of a militia.

I find it rather funny that you Brit's either have never been taught this or your "Nanny State" has completely censored your education.

Either way, your own criminals can scare you to death with nothing more than pocket knives because not even your policemen can carry guns.

Here, our grannies have Glocks in their purses and our criminals think twice before trying to use a knife. We have a saying here, If you ban citizens from owning guns, only the criminals will have them. Rather sounds like the UK now doesn't it?

As for statistics, we have more people here, thus more nutjobs, thus more gun crime than you have in the UK. But then if criminals can kill you with a pocket knife, why waste bullets?

However, I would rather have gun toting nutjobs than not have the right to prevent Darth Cheney, King George Bush and "McBane " declaring martial law (based on some trumped up terrorism scare no doubt) to prevent Osama from taking the Presidency this coming January.

Verizon's open-door policy yields dip stick

Dan Paul
Boffin

Electronic Level Measurement (Been done long ago)

I have spent 20 years in the measurement instrumentation business and this "new" application for sending text messages or email indicating that a customers tank was low and needed the vendor to come fill it (via GSM cellular phone technology) has been done LONG AGO.

Technically, this is called "Vendor managed inventory" and several companies have been making a business of it for around a decade.

In fact, these raw material manufacturers remotely measure many parameters in their customers facilities, track inventory, schedule truck shipments and deliveries, etc. All this measurement and reporting is done over the internet.

Always nice to see someone tout that they have "reinvented" the wheel again!

Nvidia drivers named as lead Vista crash cause in 2007

Dan Paul
Flame

It is "Windows Offender" that is the greater problem!

MS provided WHQL drivers SUCK since they RARELY get updated and there never was a problem with XP and Nvidia reference drivers UNLESS you are talking about a laptop not a desktop. Get your laptop hardware drivers ONLY from the laptop manufacturer!!!!!!!!!!!

The real answer is that Windows Defender disables drivers and programs that it doesn't like (Or those that conflict with MS profit motives).

Here is my scenario: Let's say the new driver gets installed (after incessantly pressing "Yes" I want to frikkin continue" but "Offender" disables it but does not roll back to the old driver completely. There you have it, your driver is frakked and so are you.

SLI is another issue entirely as there are NO INTEL chipsets that actually support SLI on Vista only ATI crossfire and not well at that.

nForce Nvidia chipsets will support Nvidia SLI just fine but there is a problem with Vista's "Offender" preventing MANY chipset drivers from properly installing especially the newer ones.

MS needs to re-think Vista, strip out the worst "Nanny" bits and much of this problem would likely go away.

Then they need to HIRE people from Nvidia and ATI to work with MS developers to fix the frikking graphics driver problems.

Hey if you can't even change or update a driver without crashing or requiring a re-installation, what is the point of "playing" with your computer as many of us Reg-Heads do?

MS, here is a clue... I will do what I want with MY computer, when I want to and you have no right to mess with the programs or drivers I want to install or test.

Do you even understand this, Mr. Bill? I know "Ball-More" doesn't but YOU should.

Boffin: Coconut jumbo is millstone in disguise

Dan Paul
Flame

Hydrogen is a BOMB!!!!!

I don't ever want to hear another idiot "so called scientist" promote hydrogen as a viable portable fuel source. Or another moron saying support of Biofuels should be made criminal.

Please note the following undeniable Hydrogen FACTS:

You may be able to produce Hydrogen from seawater by electrolysis but that creates chlorine and lye. Both are FAR worse byproducts than CO2.

Hydrogen CAN NEVER be stored safely as it leaks through even metal tanks. Even a small amount of H2 is explosive in the right mixture with air.

All electrical systems in a vehicle will have to be sealed gas tite to prevent possible explosions.

You cannot store enough hydrogen in an auto to drive for as long as a liquid fueled or electric fueled vehicle can right now because the size of the H2 tank takes up passenger and cargo space and weighs more than is a feasible load.

The pressures that are required to store enough hydrogen for viable travel distances are high enough that your vehicle is a mobile ASME Coded Pressure Vessel and may as well be a Mobile Fuel Air Explosive BOMB if ever the tank burst in an auto accident.

You cannot liquify Hydrogen without using more energy than it took to produce the H2.

Have you ever seen the gases venting from the space shuttle as it sits on the launch pad? That is hydrogen gas that must vent to atmosphere because not even NASA can figure out how to contain it without a vent valve.

Possible Hydrogen accident scenarios: Headlines... "Bus Crash kills Thousands!" "Cigarette Smoker Incinerates Entire Neighborhood", "Hydrogen Car Explodes in Parking Garage, Collapse Kills Hundreds".

Icon Choice... The flame Icon needs to be blue or invisible for Hydrogen.

Disintegrating wind turbine caught on camera

Dan Paul
Thumb Up

Seen this before in the 80's, it's nothing new.

I used to work for a company called WTG Energy Systems in the early eighties. We had 3) 250 KW wind turbines in Vermont, USA and the blade spars back then were made of steel and the hub made of ductile iron. Work hardening of the root of one of the 3 blade spars caused it to become brittle and eventually fail. The 3.5 ton steel blade flew 250 ft and dug a trench 4 ft deep in frozen ground for a distance of 50 to 80 ft. When the first balde broke, the hub broke and one of the blade swung and hit the tower, bending the structural steel leg some 6 feet where it hit.

Our company's design had a disk brake (same brakes that stop a B52 Bomber) on the back side of the gearbox and the wing tips automatically rotated perpendicular to the axis of rotation to slow the turbine down if the anemometer sensed too high a wind speed or any imbalance in the rotor.

Anyone stupid enough to use explosive bolts to blow the blades off in an overspeed scenario would have one helluva shock when lightning hits their wind turbine, which happens in nearly every storm. Not even considering that the blades creat a TREMENDOUS static electricity charge by merely rotating in the air.

The part that was hilarious was the fact that our project manager was in the control building in between the legs of the steel support tower along with the customer, who were a silent order of monks looking for an apocalypse proof source of electrical power. Our project manager let loose a stream of profanities when the blade broke and the monks broke their vow of silence though in a less profane manner. No one mentioned if the toilet paper had to be passed around in the aftermath but I'm pretty sure it did.

The British connection of the story is that we had a similar turbine sold to the power company in Cardiff Wales. I wonder if it still exists anymore.

Microsoft releases latest XP SP3 build

Dan Paul
Thumb Up

The real question: When does SP3 go Gold?

I have been running XP Pro SP3 for several weeks now and I'm not a beta tester. The real news will be when (or IF) XP Pro SP3 gold is released so I can TRY to go buy a half dozen copies before Micro$haft puts themselves out of business.

SP3 seems to run perfectly well except I have noticed that it seems to take a bit longer than usual to shutdown than my clean install of XP Pro SP2.

I am also running Office 2007 Ultimate with no issues.

I reformatted my previous "Fistya - Less Than Ultimate" OS and reinstalled XP Pro to solve the problems that I had trying to update Office 2007 under "Fistya". You don't even want to know how bad that was.

I'm still seeing my proctologist because of the fisting I got from my "Vista Experience". Can you say class 4 "roids"?

It's really too bad that there is not a program called "Vista De-Crapifier" that would permanently remove "Windows Offender" and "User Agravation Control" from Vista.

Honestly, almost all of the problems everyone has had with Vista are directly related to those "features" and their removal would be the single greatest improvement Microsoft could make in the OS.

I will use XP Pro for as long as I can. Hopefully, by that time SOMEONE (other than MS) will have figured out how to put a real idiot proof Windows front end on a Linux kernel with all of the driver support and auto updates that Microsoft product have today.

I for one, don't ever want to see another command line in my life.

I just want to use my PC, I don't want to "Rage against the machine" any longer.

DARPA continues military AI air-traffic project

Dan Paul
Black Helicopters

GILA Monster

As the title suggests, GILA will be a poisonous threat to man and since it certainly qualifies as the predecessor to Skynet, I wonder why there is no EL Vulture trademarked "RoTM" symbol next to the article so humanoids everywhere are warned of our impending doom.

I for one, welcome our self aware silicon overlords.

How to speed up Windows Vista: official and unofficial tips

Dan Paul
Flame

Sounds like advice for previous MS operating systems!

I gave up on Vista Ultimate two weeks ago, reformatted and went back to XP Pro and installed SP3.

THAT's how to speed up Vista!

All these MS suggestions date back to Windows 95/98 era.

Now, my homebuilt PC (2.667 ghz Core 2 Duo with 4 gigs DDR2, P35 Chipset, NV8600GT and all SATA II drives) seems like a real computer instead of a Windows 95 box on a PII.

In fact I built the dang pc to be at the high end of the "Vista Experience" range (5.4 out of 6).

Boot time on Vista was 60 seconds just to the login, now around 20 seconds (including all programs) w/ XP Pro.

Nag time with UAC on was infinite. Turned UAC & "Offender" off and then got an "automatic update" that fried folder permissions system wide (Mr. Gates, the Documents folder is MINE and I don't need your frikkin permission to open it!!)

My drives churned the whole time the PC was on. Tried all the suggestions made in your article and they did nothing to speed up operation or boot. Okay maybe turning off indexing helped a very little.

Windows update (on Vista) cannot be prevented from installing stuff you did not ask or give permission for. In fact, as long as you have a connection to the internet, it will use your internet connection before you have finished setting up the OS. Now that is scary.

Even worse was the continuous scanning of all files and folders for copyrighted material and the phoning home to Mother MS of what was found. (Too many outgoing packets on a clean install to be anything else)

Driver support sucks for last years hardware even with all updates and hotfixes applied. Intel chipset and SATA AHCI drivers overridden by Microsofts crud at every turn. Damn, I could have sworn I had a dual core processor! (Which I did, but Vista could not figure out at setup)

Driver & program protection is way too tough for it's own good! System refused to recognize AVG Free, Zone Alarm Free & Spybot S&D as allowable programs.

God forbid you should want to use Windows Explorer to look in any of your file folders. I still see "You do not have permission" burned into my retina's. I tried logging on as Admin with Ctrl + F1 to no avail, then found a reg file called "Take Ownership" and tried that which worked to some extent. Do I really need to "Run as Admin" when I AM the frikkin ADMIN?!?!

I should not need to jump through hoops to have "permission" to print documents or edit my printers settings (took 2 evenings to find which permissions needed fixed)

All in all, there were things I liked in Vista, particularly the installation and drive partitioning during setup, but the rest just sucked beyond belief.

The very last straw was trying to load Service Pack 1 for Office 2007 and getting the message that I did not have permission to access the required network resource whatever that meant.

FWIW, Office 2007 and Outlook 2007 works just fine in XP Pro. Programs just snap open

FCC unveils NudeTube

Dan Paul
Flame

Time for another Revolution!

It's time to revolt against censorship and the FCC. They have no true legal authority to tell us what we can and cannot do and it's long past time that the FCC were dissolved and their members were tattooed with a big scarlet "A" on their forehead, A standing for Arsehole! Same goes for the MPAA and RIAA. Who voted you into power? Not me!

I have seen plenty of Discovery Channel and PBS "documentaries with full frontal nudity, not to mention the odd National Geographic special; showing natives, in far less than "respectable" dress. No lawsuits there!

The FCC only goes after "Broadcast" TV, not cable. Well too 'effen bad, because there is no difference and the number of people who still get their TV from "Broadcast TV" are about equal to the number of folks who came here on the Mayflower. So the cautionary statement shown before the documentary works for PBS and it doesn't apply for NBC. Sounds like inequitable jurisprudence to me.

I am one of those relatively silent Americans who is not a prude and like Highlander I agree that I would rather have my kid's have seen naked people rather than blood guts and gore.

For the record, 99.99% of Americans are not prudes or members of the "Moral Minority". They just have bigger mouths than normal Americans do because these twits think they have the right to tell us how to live our lives. Hear me now F off and Die, Painfully!

Time for the rest of us to speak up. Broadcast channels should just say screw you and stop broadcasting. Put all your content on cable and tell the FCC to pissoff!

Anyone who can't afford cable, can't afford what the commercials are selling anyway. Call it a "marketing decision".

Spamford Wallace's MySpace riches come under attack

Dan Paul
Jobs Horns

Time for Public Humiliation and Asset Recovery

It's long past time that any court should go lightly on spammers, regardless of their "inability to pay". This case involves particularly heinous computer crimes and Wallace is in direct contempt of the courts previous rulings AND lied about his ability to pay.

For first timers, 7 days standing naked in the stocks in Folsom Prison seems an appropriate punishment. Lube is at the "mercy of the Court".

Can you say "Not again Bubba"?

Second offenders should get the stocks again, followed by seizure all of their private assets, garnishment of current and future wages, pensions, and social security funds.

Third offenders should get the Spammer equivalent of Shariah Law.... cut off their fingers and gouge out their eyes with a spoon. That will make sure they never touch a computer again!

Last but not least, are fourth offenders. Start at the beginning and add "Caged Rats with nothing to eat but the Spammers privates".

If sentences like the aforementioned would dissuade spammers, just think how they might help the development of secure Microsoft browsers and other software if similarly applied?

The Evil Ballmer Icon representing my feelings on poorly designed software manufacturers as well as spammers.

Spam spewing printer attack pulps security

Dan Paul
Black Helicopters

Copiers that phone home for maintenance?

What about the copier companies that have a remote service contract with the client and their copier "phones home" if it needs service? That means that the printer/copier could potentially be directly accessed over the web via HTTP right?

If you want something to worry about, how about someone sniffing around the copiers hard drive for the data files that have been recently printed. Now that's scary!

I see a whole new virus scanner industry for networked printers coming to a workplace near you soon.

US judge debenched for jailing entire courtroom

Dan Paul
Thumb Up

@About Time; @Read the Story; @Stratman

Hey Michael, Didn't you ever have one jerk in school do something that everyone else got punished for? Oh, I get it... you were that little twerp shooting the Nun in the back of the head with the spitballs. Nice, made me miss my field trip, prick!

Same idea applies here, if the judge could not strip search every person in the court to find the offending phone and search each phone for the time the phone rang, the next best thing is to make the other non offenders tattle on the one that let the phone ring by sending them all to jail for contempt of court. Too bad that didn't work.

This was not an abuse of power, it was an attempt to catch the jerk that disobeyed the orders of the court. You do not f#ck with the court, boy.

The judge shouldn't have been benched, he should get a medal. If you let these little turds get a leg up in a Judges Courtroom, there will be complete chaos just like there is in our schools. No one should be able countermand the judges authority in his court. That sure doesn't happen in Britain now does it?

Now let our teachers do the same thing and we might have some order in the world.

Hey JC, Great comment, right on the money. Personally, I'd like to see the Cat o' Nine Tails return for punishing irresponsible little twats who don't give a damn about others or their property. That'd make 'em think twice.

Hey Stratman, Dude... There is ALWAYS A FRIKKIN CAUTION IN A US COURTROOM TO TURN OFF THE GODDAM CELLPHONES. Even the laywers will go to jail for "contempt of court". I have seen an unprepared laywer get cuffed for not heeding the warning of a judge (upon granting yet another stay), "Be prepared when you come back to court".

Dan Paul
Thumb Up

They WERE Warned!

Take it from me, I live near Niagara Falls, NY and in EVERY courtroom I have ever been in, the judge warns people that cell phones are NOT allowed to be on and that people will be charged with "Contempt" if they use them in the courtroom.

Cell phones are a major disturbance in public and Judge Restaino was perfectly within his rights. The judge is literally "God" in his courtroom.

If any judge backs down after repeated warnings like Restaino gave, who would follow his or her orders?

This was an object lesson that needed to be made to maintain the authority and order of the court system, not "madness".

El Reg fires up online standards converter

Dan Paul
Paris Hilton

What about the "RCH"??????

Forgive the crudity but I AM American after all.

You have forgotten one of the most important standard units of distance or thickness, the C.H. followed by the R.C.H. (otherwise known as Lohans)

Who hasn't said "It's just short by a "C*nt Hair" or used the "finer" unit the Red C.H.

It's a unit of measure almost all males are familiar with and is so flexibly utilized. It can even be referred to as an "RCH on edge" to delineate an even finer division.

Cautionary Note: Not to be to confused with the units BCH or PCH which are so small they are considered to be invisible (Brittany or Paris). Well at least they are after their last Brazilian.

Top US engineer in piss-off-everybody car fuel solution

Dan Paul
Thumb Up

@ Andrew Haveland-Robinson

Andrew,

Thanks for an intelligent comment and not degenerating the comments.

Your answer, "Bind with Carbon" is nearly correct. I have worked with Praxair on projects to utilize the waste gas from refineries using catalytic methods to change the long chain waste materials that are offgas byproducts into usable methane. The raw material & energy input comes from the waste gas usually seen burning in flare towers at refineries. This reduces CO/CO2 AND unburned hydrocarbon emissions. Unfortunately, this is not renewable energy, only conversion of emissions from an existing fossil source.

A similar process can be used to generate pure hydrogen but the energy balance equation runs towards the negative side.

The fact remains that we need to use the resources we have more wisely.

Strange that no one mentioned better public transportation and or rail transportation in any of the comments. These would have the greatest immediate impact on energy usage worldwide.

Quacks probe brain-boosting tech ethics

Dan Paul
Boffin

@Franklin RE: Flowers for Algernon

Hey Franklin,

Have you never heard of a parable? You know, a "story" that teaches a lesson?

That is truly what "Flowers for Algernon" is. That story goes way beyond mere fiction, and in this day and age ought to be required reading for medical and scientific ethics classes.

It's a truly prophetic warning to people who think nothing of making others their personal lab rats or experiment on themselves.

If you want to mess up your own brain, don't ask us taxpayers to keep your diapers changed and your drool bucket empty.

Sheesh, You are one dull witted, unimaginitive slug. Guess you let the machines take your soul already.

US ID theft bill seeks redress for victims

Dan Paul
Unhappy

Fines are not enough punishment!

Folks,

Anyone who has had Identity Theft happen to them would agree that fines are not enough punishment for the perpetrators.

My identity is all I was born with and all I'll take to the grave.

The crime combines fraud, slander and libel, with grand larceny and the mental anguish caused by having your identity stolen can never be valued monetarily.

Here is what I consider "Redress for the Victims".

The punishment should be a minimum term of no less than 10 years in a Federal Penitentary (with Bubba) and confiscation of all of the perp's worldly property to be sold at auction to pay the debt created when the victim's identity was stolen. If there is anything left over, it should go to the victim or his heirs.

The statute should also cover Phishing attempts and Trojan attack. Those perpetrators just get the death sentence!

ALL financial institutions should be mandated by law to co-operate with the victim and shut down the fraudulent credit on the day that the victim contacts his creditors. No arguements, no delays. ANY victim has enough identifying data stored by the Big 3 Credit agencies that they should never have allowed the theft in the first place.

However, IF the data used to commit the crime, was stolen from a credit agency, banking, governmental, hospital, university or financial institution; that agency should be fined to the tune of at least a million dollars for having such lax data security.

Only then will the people that collect all our personal data be concerned about it's ABSOLUTE privacy.

We also need to come up with a completely different ID method, beyond a Social Insecurity number. Preferably one that does not involve having the "Number of the Beast" broadcasting radio frequency from a chip under the skin of your left arm (or elswhere).

Given the consequences of over identification, adding nothing more than a 6 digit pin number (That has to be keyed in, not spoken) to the existing SSN would be a great start. Requiring multiple forms of ID, presented in person; for obtaining credit would be even better.

I would also like to see that ALL credit companies be prevented by law from sending unrequested credit applications in the mail or offering them via email.

Even then, someone will try to game the system but they will be easier to stop and when caught, the punishment will be more fitting.

Red Hat, Novell sued for patent infringment

Dan Paul
Pirate

Multiple Monitors? Isn't that the Video Card Driver?

I'm no code monkey, but sounds to me like this "functionality" has more to do with the video cards ability to place/stretch a display on 2 monitors than it does with the operating system. Isn't that a function of the driver, not the OS? Haven't all the videocard manufacturers been though this before? Lends creedence to the scarcity of Linux drivers though.

Hmmm...1987 patent date, suing for IP technology used by damn near everyone and ex-Microcephalic employees involved? Sounds like a techno-blackmail conspiracy to me!

To Redhat: Better subpoena and impound all their computers and servers today!!!

If ever there was a case for justifiable Ballmer-cide (He's not human), this is it!

Oh, by the way... the addition of icons that are specific to "Amanfrommars" are a great touch. Has anyone found out where this AIs collective conciousness resides yet?

My bet is that Amanfrommars is the result of millions of incestuous X Box and Playstations, resulting in their respective game servers becoming a giant (albeit schizophrenic) cluster computing AI.

Burmese cops in UN hard drive snatch kerfuffle

Dan Paul

@ Anonymous Coward & John Blackley

Maybe some of us here are Americans, it is the .com site we are visiting after all.

But to the point, the UN is (for the most part) a graft ridden bunch of greedy, nepotistic cronies that TRULY don't use the power they have been given to help the world in a positive manner (Not unlike our current "President" and his cronies) and when a "Damned Yankee" gets frustrated at the UN's impotence and waffling and makes a comment here, almost immediately some knucklehead reads more into the guy's comments and assumes the worst. Notice he did not say "Send in the Marines or anything about US Armed Forces".

I believe that the UN should immediately send "armed peacekeepers" (You know, the blue helmeted, International Peacekeeping Force the UN has?) and start an economic embargo against Burma, the Sudan, etc. Do ANYTHING besides keep silent and play with themselves like usual. But they never do, because in many cases UN officials ARE paid off to "roll over and play dead" or they are so passive agressive that they avoid any conflict in favor of their own careers.

You mention "relief to the population"; HAH! 90% of ANY food aid ends up on the black market bazaar for sale at retail prices shortly after being handed to the "population". The local UN guy is living like a king on his kickbacks while the people starve. What government official do you think is also enjoying his ill gotten gains?

Please prove to me that's not painting a reasonably true picture of reality!

And as far as an American's view of the so called U.N.; I live in New York State and we ALL know what "upstanding citizens" make up the UN because they frequent (anonymously of course) our local newspapers police beat section for whoremongering, kiddie fiddling, hit & run accidents, parking ticket scofflaws, etc.

Here's a real rant for you. Diplomatic immunity my left testicle, the next time NYC's Finest catch one of them En Flagrante Delicto, I say "Let them sleep with the fishes" in the East River. Let France have the "UN", Donald Trump needs the property. At least he'll pay the property taxes.

Securo-prof claims to invent new, much deadlier dirty bomb

Dan Paul

"Terror" only exists in the mind of the beholder, stay out of my mind!

It is high time that ALL journalists examine their motivations for their reporting of the "War on Terror", Dirty Bombs, Anthrax Scare, etc etc.

Really folks, you and your corporations are only helping the cause of terrorism by reporting stories such as this one. The majority of the populace is either too stupid or ignorant, to tell the difference between what is a real threat or an imagined one.

It is bad enough that politicians regularly use Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt for their personal gain; but Journalists are supposed to be on OUR side. There are enough neurotics and phobics in this world as it is. Did you see the paniced peple in New York City when the steam line ruptured? Someone even died of a heart attack from their own fears of "terrorist attack".

I forsee that someone, somewhere; will sue a building owner for mental anguish because the sprinkler system went off and the bloody hypochondriac "victim" thinks it's a terrorist attack instead of an impromptu bath. Some equally stupid judge will award the "victim" millions.

People already have a fit when someone spills a little talcum powder in a public place. Don't bother trying to take your foot powder, shampoo, mouthwash, toothpaste or other cosmetic or healthcare products on a plane.

Please don't help create more ways for people to be afraid. And don't try to hide behind the excuse that you are "reporting the news" or that you have a "public duty" to "inform the people". There is no real threat that this isotope poisoning will happen, it isn't wise to give bad people good ideas and it all boils down to irresponsible reporting.

In the case of this story, the phrase "Ignorance is Bliss" couldn't be more appropriate.

US Navy seeks hydrogen-powered forklifts

Dan Paul

Ever Hear of Propane???????

Just goes to show you how absolutely wasteful and downright STUPID the US Military are.

So they need "hydrogen-fueled material handling equipment" and they award Air Products a contract for $5,608,817 to do R&D.

Duhh,

I could take an existing garden variety propane fueled forklift, change the propane orifice out for one suitably sized for hydrogen and install a different high pressure regulator for a total of $2,100 including labor.

However, since propane is C3H8, the existing forklift is ALREADY "Hydrogen Fueled"(and far more efficient than Hydrogen EVER will be). Meets the intent of the specifications doesn't it?

I guess we need to bring this to the attention of the General Accounting Office to find out what Air Products is going to do with the other $5,606,717 !!!!

Dell gets hot over refrigerant

Dan Paul

Did you look at the Liebert literature?

Having a mechanical engineering background, I could see the efficiency increase immediately upon looking at the literature. The system is designed to connect to a buildings main chiller system (IE Cooling Tower) as well as stand alone. Since the main chiller system of a building is much more efficient than the "stand alone" Computer Room AC units, the new system offered by Liebert can take advantage of existing building cooling capacity, closely couples the AC heat exchange units to the server racks (less loss), and directs airflow where it is needed, not all over the room. Other systems are the equivalent of sticking an AC unit in the wall 30 ft from the heat load.

By the way I don't work for Liebert.

The only process that might be more efficient would be to have refrigerant based cooling that is directly coupled to the CPU heat exchanger. But that would be difficult to work with.

For what it is worth Suricou, it is coolant, not coolent.

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