* Posts by allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

6157 publicly visible posts • joined 20 Oct 2015

Microsoft lets Beijing fondle its bits in new source code audit hub

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: National Security

MS = Market Share.

Questions?

WTF is OpenResty? The world's fifth-most-used Web server, that's what!

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: but the name

Flussschifffahrt (not a typo either)...

Q: Why did the ancient Egyptians use hieroglyphs* ?

A: One Rechtschreibungsreform too many...

* Yes, I looked that one up.

Autonomous vehicles inquiry set up in the UK

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

"Swedish car manufacturer Volvo" is owned since 2010 by the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, the parent of Chinese motor manufacturer Geely Automobile. After being sold to them by Ford, who bought Volvo in 1999.

Margaret Hodge's book outlines 'mind boggling' UK public sector waste

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: T'was ever thus

"... creating an impression of great activity, but actually achieving nothing ..."

One of the things I learned during my time in the army.

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: Well well well...

Another lovely book:

Peter Helling, Bernhard Spengler, Thomas Springer: "Fehler richtig geplant - Ein Ratgeber für den kreativen Fehlplaner", Vbt Verlag Bau und Technik, 1987, ISBN 3-7640-0232-8.

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: what changed?

"I think that should be senior civil servants and politicians alike should be abolished as soon as an excuse can be thought of."

I think the word you're looking for is "revolution".

India court could stop Facebook’s WhatsApp mega-slurp

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken
Thumb Up

Go India!

(The post is required, and must contain letters.)

Latest F-35 bang seat* mods will stop them breaking pilots' necks, beams US

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: What a petite pilot may look like...

Nah, this is what a petite pilot looks like...

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: "We believe that .... "

I feel like I want to believe, I think.

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: Handling the G's / ejection seats for helicopters

There is a little comic by André Franquin about ejection seats for 'choppers'.

UK.gov's Digital Catapult wheels out Central London IoT network

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

"... the Second Coming of Christ ..."

Won't that erase all the video tapes?

ROBO-PLOD! 'Droid snatches scumbag's shotgun in standoff

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken
Pint

"Then again, robots aren't always so easy-going. In July, Dallas police used a similar robot carrying a bomb to blow up a suspect who was holding them off with firearms."

It's not the robots, it's the guys at the controls. Seems like the LAPD's SWAT team have some that are quife sensible. I hope that someone buys them a couple of after hour brewskis.

Apple seeks patent for paper bag - you read that right, a paper bag

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

I wonder

what former patent office clerk Albert Einstein would make of this.

2,000 year old man found dead near 2,000 year old computer

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Obviously

a salesperson from Ithaka Business Machines ...

Hackers hijack Tesla Model S from afar, while the cars are moving

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

"Director Lv says the type of research is important as cars become more automated and tech-dependent."

I'd like to nominate this for the "Understatement of the Year" awards.

Ghost of Windows NT haunts EMC's VNX, Celerra and Avamar

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

I liked NT. The early versions, that is.

Target lost, Cruz missile misses: Ted's ICANN crusade is basically over

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

"Cruz also managed to elicit significant press coverage for his plan ..."

As this is probably what it was all about ... win-win?

HP Inc's rinky-dink ink stink: Unofficial cartridges, official refills spurned by printer DRM

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

FWIIW, Rank Xerox figured out that the real money is in selling toner, not selling copy machines some 40 years ago.

Not that I agree with this sort of business model; it somehow reminds me of the way drug dealers operate. The first hit is free... only that it isn't.

BTW, Lou Reed's "Waiting For The Man" is the perfect song for running out of ink/toner/paper on a sunday night, with an important piece of work due on monday morning.

Lack of Hurd mentality at Oracle OpenWorld: Co-CEO's cloud claims fall flat live on stage

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Next time, maybe he should finish with a song.

Italian scientists use fluorescent box to arouse sexually indifferent men

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: What?

You'd need at least some light in order to see the boobies...

Anyway, while I certainly would be prepared to run a series of tests myself (for the advancement of science), I'll wait with buying any lamps until the results have been replicated. By a French team.

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Is this in any way related to the MoD spending £30,000,000 on new laser systems?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/16/mod_confirms_laser_directed_energy_weapon_contract_mbda/

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: Invented medical disorders

Restless Eye Syndrome - kerching, blinky!

RAF Reaper drone was involved in botched US Syria airstrike

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: 39 Sqn RAF

Yes, RAF Waddingtong's 39 squadron is indeed based in Nevada:

http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafwaddington/aboutus/39squadron.cfm

NASA starts countdown for Cassini probe's Saturn death dive

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: Wrong move / cost

Why is there always enough money for, let's say questionable things, but never enough for the stuff that's really interesting...

Radar missile decoys will draw enemy missiles away from RAF jets

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: looking up the pre-programmed threat library etc

Should at least work well enough against "friendly fire", so one worry less...

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: Security by melting?

"And how many will inexplicably land on Holiday Cottages?"

"Come home tl a real fire. Buy a cottage in Wales." -- NTNOCN

Want a Dell printer? Unlucky – they've just stopped selling them

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: Then just buy a Xerox

Wax printers? That used to be the Tektronics Phasers. Still have one of those A3 monsters somewhere in the basement.

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

"A Dell spokesperson had not responded to The Register's requests for comment by the time of publication."

Of course not. They are probably all busy updating their CVs right now.

Salesforce Einstein: Enterprise AI breakthrough, or CRM Clippy?

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

"... alerting salespeople when a contact might be considering a competitor."

And how is that supposed to work - other than by snooping around?

Skype shuts down London office, hangs up on hundreds of devs

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Create something new from scratch? Off the top of my head I can't think of a single time MS has ever done that.

United States Air Force grounds F-35As after cooling kit cracks up

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Puzzled

Is this contraption using the fuel as a heat sink or is it supposed to chill the fuel? (Or was there no room to lay the pipes around the fuel tank?)

Neither option sounds reassuring. Does anyone know something about the reasoning behind this? Has this something to do with cooling the jet exhaust "because stealth"?

World's largest internet exchange sues Germany over mass surveillance

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: BND vs Stasi

In the last days of the GDR, the HVA shredded most of their files.

They left intact everything they had on the BND.

iPhone 7 first fondle

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: Who is buying this?

iDiots?

MoD confirms award of giant frikkin' laser cannon contract

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: "had been delayed by a challenge from rival bidders"

I have it on good authority that the trend is moving towards designer jiffy bags these days.

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

An army of Boy-George-clones, riding giant sharks with frikkin' lasers...

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: What happened to the free market?

"Free market" and "defense contracts" just don't mix. Everybody knows that.

Two Sundays wrecked by boss who couldn't use a calendar

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: Looking Out for Yourself

"Even if they're not required, it's very good practice to sit down at the end of each day and make notes about how your time was consumed."

Can be very useful. Not just when facing off behind lawvers. Performance interviews, "what have you been doing with your time" questions, arguing raises or promotions... nothing like beating them with their own weapons.

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: Travel time

You are with BT and I claim my £5!

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: "Have you been forced to do utterly pointless work?"

"Where timesheets can be very useful is to record the hours spent on a project, ..."

Indeed. I even did this when I was self employed - it's vital to know whether you've actually earned money on a project - or not.

Brexit will happen. The EU GDPR will happen. You can't avoid either

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: Two years is the maximum

Yes it is. But given what has to be negotiated and how, and given that triggering the timeout will pretty much leave the UK in an unfavourable position, they'll be needing those two years.

BOFH: The case of the suspicious red icon

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: Worst of the worst

Yes, doctors... an alarmingly large number of them doesn't know that much about biological viruses* to beginn with, let alone the computer variant...

* I checked. While apparently the jury is still out whether "virii" is a no-no or not, "viruses" (the word) seems safe to use.

Google GPS grab felt like a feature, was actually a bug

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: "You're bugging me."

Depends. IMO, both variants are valid in this case...

As to the article: okay, I'll accept that this was a cockup. But that doesn't mean I trust them.

Songsmiths sue US antitrust over Google-friendly rules ruling

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

"... a state [Texas] where songwriters are popular heroes."

Only when their songs are about guns and people who need kkllin'.

With the possible exception of Roy Orbison.

So, Gov.UK infosec in 2015. 'Chaotic'. Cost £300m. NINE THOUSAND data breaches...

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: Have GCHQ systems ever been breached?

Well, technically, ... given the "special relationship" and "Five Eyes" and what not, is it still a breach if the NSA did it?

Gone

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Will there be a talk on "How to grow back fingers, eyeballs and other body parts used in biometrics"?

Because one way or another, your biometric data will be leaked. And then what?

French hackers selling hidden .22 calibre pen guns on secret forums

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Re: Newton's Third Law of Motion

There was the FP-45 Liberator, amongst other guns like pen- and lipstick-guns, and guns as part of gloves... a lot of clever ideas, but usually more of a novelty than an effectice weapon. Most of them fall into the category of "if you're close enough to your adversary to use it, you might just as well use a knife or your hands or a brick or whatever is availiable".

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

"euthanasia kits" ???

What exactly should I be prepared for to find in one?

Star Trek: Discovery delayed

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

"Never give up! Never surrender!" No, wait, what?

But seriously, I'm both hopeful and apprehensive.

Oh well, maybe CBS will at least find a new and original way to fuck it up...

Chinese space lab lifts today

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Quantum key transmission? Interesting, what are they cooking up? Secure comms for distributing one time pads?

Great British Great Bake Off gets new judge

allthecoolshortnamesweretaken