Re: I notice there is a layer of CIGS
Alan, you are not alone.
I'd answer your question regarding white-coated scientists, but I need to step outside for a brief air-quality survey.
Posts by Kurt Meyer
406 publicly visible posts • joined 20 Jan 2016
A glass of soda-and-lime is the straight dope for graphene
All-American Apple challenges US gov call for iOS 'backdoor'
A third of Brits would cough up £300 to ransomware peddlers
Patch ASAP: Tons of Linux apps can be hijacked by evil DNS servers, man-in-the-middle miscreants
Wednesday 17th February 2016 03:14 GMT
A little Shakespeare seems appropriate
Clown number one - "Lintards!"
Clown number two - "Wintards!"
The Bard - "Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace,
Profaners of this neighbour-stained steel,
Will they not hear? What, ho! you men, you beasts,
That quench the fire of your pernicious rage
With purple fountains issuing from your veins!
On pain of torture, from those bloody hands
Throw your mistemper'd weapons to the ground..."
ESA's Sentinel satellite to ride converted ICBM
Comcast celebrates Presidents Day with Gerald Ford impression
Coding is more important than Shakespeare, says VC living in self-contained universe
Depressed? Desperate for a ciggie? Blame the Neanderthals
Saturday 13th February 2016 17:54 GMT
Re: Echoes from the past
The research... showed that Neanderthal DNA has influenced modern humans.
Them: Major university research project, boffins, database of DNA samples, gobs, and gobs, of funding.
Me: Half an hour in a doctor's waiting room, gazing out the window at a traffic intersection.
I'm in the wrong line of work.
Indonesian comms ministry orders 'gay emoji' block
When asked 'What's a .CNT file?' there's a polite way to answer
Saturday 13th February 2016 16:33 GMT
@TheVogon
"but now all they need to do is learn to select the "Reset my PC" option"
With all due respect, I must disagree. On a "popular brand" PC, purchased from PC World/BestBuy or similar, a typical reset will leave the user with a machine full of bloatware, and none of the post-purchase customization which occurs in most, if not all, scenarios. This also assumes that no corruption or damage has affected the recovery partition/media.
A working PC > a non-working PC, no doubt. No argument here.
That said, as surely as the Sun rises in the East, will come the deluge of follow up questions; "Where's my Office?" "Where's my Norton?" "I don't like Norton, I want McAfee, how do I do that?" and so on.
I always offer an alternative, usually Linux Mint, and most who've tried it are very happy with it, but in some cases, and for some people, it MUST be Windows.
In our role as "the computer guy/gal" for family, friends, and even the odd paying customer, my experience has been that the "Factory Reset" option is only a temporary respite. The beginning of the tale, as it were, not the happy ending we are all seeking.
Saturday 13th February 2016 14:50 GMT
@Stevie Re: What's a .cnt?
"There's nothing wrong with a safety catch."
Absolutely right, and as Destroy All Monsters (and many other posters), has remarked, you shouldn't be running your box as Root/Administrator for normal use.
That said, a bit more fine grained control of sudo is, in my opinion, desirable.
Reluctant Wikipedia lifts lid on $2.5m internet search engine project
Get out of mi casa, Picasa: Google photo site to join Wave, Code, Reader in silicon hell
Move over, Google. Here’s Wikipedia's search engine – full of on-demand smut
Thursday 11th February 2016 17:01 GMT
A fascinating strategic option
"Instead of finding Wikipedia through Google, you could bypass Google completely."
Perhaps with something like a "Bookmark" or a "Favorite". Now bear with me, this is still only a concept, but I hope to have a working example very soon.
I've applied for several grants, and when fully funded, I plan to conduct some spirited research at one of the local watering holes.
Carly Fiorina makes like HP and splits – ex-CEO quits White House race
Friday 12th February 2016 05:20 GMT
Re: Bring Marshmallows...(@lordnorthway)
@AC - While I admire your defence of your country, I am somewhat dismayed that you did so as an Anonymous Coward. Surely the pride you feel warrants the use of your regular handle, does it not?
As for the OP, just do what I do. Every time you see his handle, think of his namesake, Lord North. That would be Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782.
If, as I believe, you are an American, that should bring a very large smile to your face.
Don't you see these simple facts? Destroy Facebook and restore human Liberty
Let Europeans sue America for slurping their data – US Senate
Wednesday 10th February 2016 20:56 GMT
Re: Feed Our Lawyers
@ Nick Kew - Nick, I don't know where you hang your hat (I'll guess the UK), but here in the US there are shysters falling all over each other to advertise "No Fee Unless You Win" representation. They might be worth a flutter.
Granted, you'd have two chances of succeeding; slim, and none.
All things considered though, that might be a better risk than engaging the services of Dewey, Cheatum, & Howe, and watching your hundred million warchest vanish into a cesspit of "billable hours".
Wednesday 10th February 2016 19:50 GMT 
I am more than a little pessimistic about this
"In particular, the Senate added a new provision that said the bill could not impede US national security interests"
I have very little hope that the House of Representatives will overturn this provision in conference. Nor that the President will veto the bill as written.
IoT lacking that je ne sais quoi? Try the IoTSP
CSI: Let's get out of the lab, interview the suspect, then do a warrantless search
Microsoft quits giving us the silent treatment on Windows 10 updates
Wednesday 10th February 2016 17:23 GMT
Re: A bit off-topic.
Thanks Palpy, it's always good to have alternatives. I haven't cast my gaze at Distrowatch for while.
"main thing is that even on a 32-bit laptop from the Noughties"
I have many friends and some customers (mostly older folks) with laptops of that vintage which they don't want to, and in some cases can't afford to, replace. Q4OS might be just the thing for them.
Again, thanks for the heads up.
Wednesday 10th February 2016 17:14 GMT
Re: Even the Windows 7 updates are becoming coy
@Warm Braw - I sympathize with the effort required to jump through those hoops, and I despise those shitheels at Microsoft for forcing us to do so.
I must say, however, that the label "Compatibility update for upgrading Windows 7" caused a red alert the first time I saw it.
Upgrade? I did not, do not, and will not, want to upgrade!
I want to update my Windows 7, that is all. If Win7 hangs on 'til 2020, I'll be content. Hell, I might not make 2020.
Good luck.
Met Police wants to keep billions of number plate scans after cutoff date
Don't touch that PDF or webpage until your Windows PC is patched
Wednesday 10th February 2016 04:27 GMT
Re: A fresh install of Mint 17.3 down to 12 mins with an SSD, fully updated.
@ Adam Jarvis - "Windows Update just doesn't work anymore on 7"
Windows Update is working just fine on my Windows 7 machines, it is as fast as it ever was. Which is not to say as fast as greased lightning, but neither is it the day long grind reported by some posters.
"MS seem to be embedding those Win10 nagware system updates as deeply into Windows 7 as possible"
Thanks to resources freely available on the web, I have no Win10 nagware on my Win7 machines. I also don't have Win10.
"In the meantime Mint 17.3 is like a beacon showing how a modern OS should install and update itself, there is no nonsense, wondering what its up to. Very granular, you can see exactly what its doing."
I took a (short) break while typing this post to install Mint 17 on a customer's laptop. Those marvelously enlightening, granular installation messages included:
The ever popular - "copying files"
followed by - "installing system"
and then - "configuring hardware".
I felt refreshed, invigorated, empowered, as though I had tasted the very nectar of the gods.
Or not.
I don't love or hate Mint, it is one of many alternatives to Windows, no more, and no less. I try to use the right tool for the job. For some jobs, that IS Windows. I don't proselytize any operating system, I just want to "get on with it".
"With Windows rapid release cycle"
2014-05-31 - Mint 17.0
2014-11-29 - Mint 17.1
2015-06-30 - Mint 17.2
2015-12-04 - Mint 17.3 - dates obtained from distrowatch.com
I make that four "long term support" releases in 18 months. Why Clem Thefevered deems this necessary, I couldn't say. This may not be as rapid as Firefox, but it is certainly more rapid than Windows.
FYI, this post, like all of my posts on El Reg, has been made using Firefox on Mint 17.0.
Brit spies want rights to wiretap and snoop on US companies' servers
Friday 5th February 2016 23:15 GMT
US Constitutional protections and British law
I do not see why HM spooks aren't treated the same in the US as the home grown variety, and vice versa in the UK, with regard to this issue. These are sure to be joint operations in either country. Apply to the courts for a warrant in the US, apply to the Home Secretary in the UK. Follow the respective laws and procedures of the country in which you want to conduct your operation.
It certainly does not take months for US spooks to get the court order they request, nor I'd guess, months for HM spooks to get approval from the Home Secretary. Do what needs to be done to make this reciprocal.
Any visitors to the US should, without question, be afforded the same constitutional rights and protections as those given to US citizens. No circumvention of these rights, by anyone, should ever be considered, let alone granted, to anyone, whether foreign or domestic.
I am given to understand that if I visit the UK, I will be subject to British law, as well as those applicable EU laws, while enjoying the same rights and benefits as do citizens of the UK and/or the EU. If this is true, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, then that is as it should be everywhere, especially in a country (the US) which purports to be a beacon of rights and freedoms for the rest of the world.
That's enough for now, I'm off to read The Fiver, have my dinner, a wee dram (or three), and a good night's sleep. The only laws I'll pay the slightest heed to this weekend are the Laws of Football. May all your sides be Victorious!
Friday 5th February 2016 20:59 GMT
Re: Wait for the firestorm.
@NoneSuch - Re: It's pub o'clock.
Have you started already?
The article says:
"secret negotiations that would allow British domestic spies to tap into servers in the Land of the Free when investigating Her Majesty's citizens."
You say:
"Americans can be surveilled six ways from Sunday by their own government and not care at all, but just the slightest whiff of a foreigner getting into their dick pics will enrage them."
I am struggling to connect those two statements, your help in doing so would be appreciated.
What about this line from the article?
"It's a reciprocal deal, so US agents would also get access to British servers."
Which, to me at least, makes the following seem ridiculous:
"Britons can be surveilled six ways from Sunday by their own government and not care at all, but just the slightest whiff of a foreigner getting into their dick pics will enrage them."
Firemen free chap's todger from four-ring chokehold
Microsoft's malware mitigator refreshed, but even Redmond says it's no longer needed
So. Are Europeans just a whining bunch of data protection hypocrites?
Friday 5th February 2016 17:09 GMT
Re: @Fibbles
I think you're correct in saying it is the EU which implements tariffs, rather than its individual members. Do these union wide agreements not require a unanimous vote among the member states? I believe that they do.
"The fact that Germany's economy is much larger than Greece's is no more relevant than the fact that California's economy is much larger than Nebraska's."
Here I believe you are incorrect. Neither California, nor Nebraska, will have any say on the matter. Whether an individual US state is for or against such a decision, it will be made in Washington, and all 50 states will follow along.
Unless I am misinformed, implementation of a similar union-wide decision in the EU will require the assent of all 28 separate countries. The decision won't be made in Brussels, but in each of Europe's capitol cities, similarly to recent decisions on immigration and border control.
Hence my reference to the disparity between those economies. Some of Europe's members may be fine with tariffs, some may not be.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
