Posts by Trigonoceps occipitalis

Re: Ah, yes. "Capitalism"

Also a car used for hire or reward is likely to be carrying higher risk passengers. By that I mean that they are likely to earn more and thus off work compensation will be higher. They are also more likely to be able to mount a court case. It is the same for normally staid classical musicians. Try playing a violin with a broken finger or a trumpet with a bruised lip - neither injury requires a full blown crash as its cause if you are with a friend (likely to be another musician) in your car.

It is all about risk - actually "what we can get away with" multiplied by risk.

Europe for instance.

That, of course, includes our traditional enemy - France.

Re: Wire is so last century.

May I just point out that placing your child in a child monitor is not recommended.

Re: I'm running for the hills

You just had to use the B word didn’t you. Next time I travel I'm suing you if the actors in the security theatre remove my fillings.

Re: When's the BBQ?

The animal staggered to its feet. It gave a mellow gurgle.

'A very wise choice, sir, if I may say so. Very good,' it

said, 'I'll just nip off and get myself shot.'

After Douglas Adams

Re: Legal reasoning.

Try using a car to smuggle cigarettes or booze into the UK and see what happens to the car.

Re: improved hardware specs and sharper displays,

A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and

understanding.”

― Marshall McLuhan

Re: WTF Richard Head

"allow a means of communications which it simply isn't possible to read"

Txt spk?

Multiplayer Solitaire

Oxymoron?

Re: Waste of (my) time.

"I would close the account"

You must like long conversations with call centres.

Re: It's a monolith!

No, a Sentinel.

Re: Times sure have changed

"You couldn't make it up."

Oh, I could - but airport security would sue me for plagiarism!

.phd was contested?

Is "DPhil" still available?

Re: Be warned...

If its the IRS/HMRC that is putting you out of business perhaps that is a good idea.

Re: POTUS

The reason that Barrack Obama will be "Mr President" in Feb 2017, and the reason why senators, congressmen, ambassadors, committee chairmen, majority/minority leaders etc retain their honorific, is the lack of an honours system. Like or loath the MBE, KB etc, and the Life Peerage, it stops retired, sacked or failed politicos trying to retain status because of what they once did - largely by the public ridicule that would follow such a stunt.

Re: Not another one!

I thought Morgan Freeman was more God than Messiah?

Make up your own second sentence using:

Freeman

Jobs

God

Messiah

Not necessarily in that order.

How about Norfolk Island? Why was it taken under the wing of Oz?

Re: "You tell them where to go, and they will go there"

They will indeed fly "home". This can be an order of magnitude bigger that 11km away. You do have to let them live at home for a while or they may bugger off to their last loft. Pigeons do have a good record in getting home, just ask any fancier.

Could they really be so dumb?

Its a triumph of hope over experience but I really, really hope they are not so dumb.

Re: "a ten million-to-one chance of occurring."

Magicians have calculated that ten million-to-one chances crop up nine point nine times out of ten.

(Apologies to TP.)

What about the oceans?

Two bit dongle

So that's 4 different answers - not very secure is it? Oh wait, 3 wrong attempts and you get locked out, just about perfect then.

Re: Freeview Play

Yes, I think Silicon is second to Oxygen in terms of abundance on Earth. I was using it as a quick and dirty analogue for all the elements, Gallium, Gernamium etc, used in ICs, and Gold etc used on circuit boards. Not all commentards will be IC engineers but i hope most could read between the lines.

directly elected upper house

The LibDems must be asking a very strange question if the answer is "600 more politicians".

It is all going to be moot as the various parties stitch up some answer, very much less than perfect but one that can be well greased and slipped through both houses, to the west Lothian Question, legitimate SNP aspirations, illegitimate SNP aspirations, English devolution etc.

Expect change generated by business as usual.

Re: Am I the only one

Yes, mostly we find out about them in the news before they are shut down.

But the question is, did he commit a crime?

I think it is more probably along the lines of "did he intend to commit a crime or was he reckless as to whether it was a crime or not?"

No wait: "Do we think he intended to commit ... "

Hang-on: "Can we convince a jury he intended ... "

Nailed it: "Will he cop to a plea rather than face 300 years without parole?."

Re: Scope Creep

Here's a semi serious question: Is the meta data for a non-completed call recorded?

If "Yes", is there an app that will make constant short, non-completed calls to random numbers and fill up the data base with noise? This may be easily mitigated against by a sort on call length.

Some have free unlimited call plans, is there away to set up some sort of "onion" call plan between handsets that enrol in a noise generating scheme. A calls B calls C etc each passing a random telephone number selected from those enrolled.

It will hammer the battery but a spare phone could be left connected to the mains. I suspect it will also upset the telcos so may be worthwhile even if we can't spook the spooks.

Re: Shambles

"still proclaiming the Internet of Things is coming .. "

Just after Zarquon's second coming but before Linux on the desktop.

My granddad thinks that is just fine for the fast lane of the M1.

Driving gloves - check!

Glasses - check!

Flat cap - check!

Thermos - check!

Sandwiches - check!

Map - nah!

Re: One party state

I must say that I expect my MP to give equal effort to supporting Labour, Tory, UKIP, Green, Monster Raving Loony, even SNP constituents if there ever are any in my part of the UK. Do not confuse votes with the electoral roll. Even those who don't vote have exercised a democratic choice.

Re: Nukes

Ledswinger,

The first sentence of my post was "There is an argument to be had about the utility or otherwise of a nuclear deterrent to the UK." I made no comment about whether having a strategic deterrent is a good or bad thing for the UK. If we have one it must fulfil the requirements of deterring. I see no "self evident rubbish" in saying that it should be built to deter Russia rather than, say, Argentina. A strategic deterrent that only just deters Argentina will be a bit rubbish when Russia decides it wants Eastern Europe back.

Traditionally the funding of the nuclear deterrent was a Treasury responsibly, not the MOD's. This was to avoid just what we see now, the expensive strategic capability preventing the deployment of effective non-nuclear forces by sucking the defence budget dry.

Brown or Balls decided to change this previously effective funding split. (Not all they got wrong.)

The need for a strategic nuclear deterrent is a political, not a military, decision. I don't know but I think it is by no means certain that, left to its own devices, the MOD would maintain the missile submarines.

The parallel world where France has international respect, a balanced budget, competitive world leading industrial corporations, low unemployment, and an agricultural sector NOT paid for the by the rest of the EU?

FTFY

I've Asked Before

Is there a site that will list the differences between identical searches on google.co.uk and google.com?

Re: Suppressing ... earlier versions

What next, people with tails?

Yes, The Lani People.

Re: Time for biocontrol

But if it is a "perfectly adapted" parasite it will make the smallest impact on its host. We need a massively unadapted parasite that kills the host quickly before it can breed.

Re: *ULTRA* reliable!

"prepares to fire"

Surely you mean "Uncloaks"?

Re: @Credas Works well

I would have said almost exactly the opposite.

(OK, it a fair cop, I just after votes.)

What type of cow eats watermelon and oranges?

(Mea culpa. No real idea of California’s range of crops but I will look it up.)

Re: Really?

True but (as any statistician will tell you) correlation is not causation. Parallel evoluti - Oh wait