There's nothing wrong with "search online for xxxxx" as an approach to getting a web presence - that's how it's supposed to work when people can't remember, don't know, mistype, or receive a mistranscribed URL.
...what seems to be missing here is that nobody thought to *do* a "search online for xxxxx" and make sure the kids won't get XXX!
Call me cynical but you'll get a whole lot more "you *need* to re-join" nags than you do invitations.
Naturally that's "you need" as in "I need you to do this so I can claim I'm 'inclusive' with my invitations without expending any effort to make sure it's true", not as in "I am aware of, understand, and respect your actual needs".
Quote> "Today we are launching our online version of the 'green cross code'. We hope that ‘zip it, block it, flag it’ will become as familiar to this generation as ‘stop, look, listen’ did to the last."
Don't they want us to "...think!" any more?
// Yes I have googled it. To which I say: "Can't run around", "Can't kick a ball for 3 weeks", "No swimming for 6 weeks"? Is http://talesoftheroad.direct.gov.uk/stop-look-listen.php a safety campaign or advice for getting out of P.E.?!!
There are some odd design decisions here (IMHO) :(
Firstly, the default width of my history sidebar means I can't tell from the labels which is a comments page and which is an article. This wouldn't be so bad but the former now leads to a 404 page (IIRC it was just the comment submit pages that did this before, which is understandable). Given the similarity between URLs for both it would be simple to have a "back to article" at least, no? This is going to be annoying when the browser crashes (it's IE and I'm at work so there's nothing I can do about it. In fact -grr- it's just done that and I'm typing this *again*. Dammit).
I agree that the "<n> comments" would be better as a choice of comments pages (@GP) if there are going to be several (ahh, is *that* what happened?!!). This would be useful when deciding whether to read comments from the first or just peek at the latest later on (etc). This would, of course, still suffer from moderator approvals between page-load and link-click making the tally wrong (@finbarr above), but I (for one) can live with that.
Lastly, I don't seem to be able to cut and paste - which is going to make quoting a royal PITA.
the patent CITES THE SUDO MANUAL. I am not a lawyer, shady or otherwise, but if I _WERE_ a shady lawyer I'd point out to my clients that a reference to the invention you're trying to steal is maybe unwise
from this I conclude that it's not supposed to be about sudo.
"
I'm with you on this one. If I run `sudo foo` for some command "foo", then I'll be running the command with elevated privileges both *at my request* and *regardless of need* (I'm thinking `sudo ls /`, but `sudo ifconfig eth0` fails if /sbin isn't in $PATH - something that could be checked before the password prompt).
If their implementation causes "the device to present a user interface in response to a task being prohibited based on a user's current account not having a right to permit the task", then it implies some part of the system is waiting for the need for privilege escalation before it intervenes; 'sudo' clearly doesn't check for "[the] user's current account not having a right to permit the task" first. The two are different, QED.
I saw something similar to the one from the school once, strangely enough, in a school i worked at. The little scroates made a habit of removing the blanking plates on the front (and back) of the machines, and just pushing stuff in.
"
Methinks that's at least two folks who were lucky the perps did it to get stuff *in*!
Piloti> Wasn't there a Wang or Apricot or something like that that had a built in screen int he keyboard..... ?
Apricot PC (http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=499): "the keyboard was quite original with 8 "normal" and 6 flat programmable function keys along with a built-in LCD screen (40 characters / 2 lines) which displayed the function of the keys" (see also the Xen and Xi models).
I liked the idea that the function keys could be custom-labelled without the need for a loseable card strip or a second line on the screen - but this was, inevitably, rendered rather passe by high-resolution screens with WIMP GUIs. This seems to be the next iteration of that. It's cool, and it will be interesting to see what developments it inspires ... but right now I can't see it's got anything to offer over my netbook+desktop combo.
AC> Which one? We've a lot of different accents here. From the snot nosed brats in Dublin 4, to the muck savage in the back end of Cork.
Indeed: as Patrick Kielty said on Top Gear, when asked where he's from (Belfast, IIRC) he commonly gets "Top o' the mornin' to ya" in a Cork accent in return - and this annoys him so much he's tempted to react "why aye man" if the questioner turns out to be from London. 'Twas nicely put ... better than rewritten here, but then again I don't tell jokes for a living ;)
@Lee: having crushed on Kylie quite a bit when I was younger, I for one can appreciate the relative success of the "Australian" vote.
// pint should be black (well, ruby-brown) obviously
Erm, measuring fatness by BMI has long been debunked as inaccurate and basically utter bollocks, there being hundreds of factors it doesn't take into account and whatnot.
Try this, for example: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14483512/
"
This article hardly does a good job of debunking BMI: it quotes someone who says there are flaws and then fails to list them! What it *does* claim is there may be better measurements (which is a fair comment). It also says "[BMI] measurement usually works well because BMI does give the right answer when averaged across many people" - which is to be expected: rather than failing to take "hundreds of factors into account", average values are assumed (factored into the range of BMI values bounding the various "fatness" categories).
The other problem is that to claim one is better at measuring the same thing is to compare apples and oranges. Waist-to-hip ratio is just that - a ratio; dimensionless. BMI is in kg/m^2: if (as I think I read here before) we assume weight is proportional to volume, and height to shoulder width, the result of the calculation is proportional to *your* waist radius (the smaller or the larger of the two, as appropriate). If you've ever patted your belly to see how bloated you are - and I'm very good at knowing my weight from that these days :( - it's not that unintuitive a measure at all ... if you've analysed what it's trying to achieve.
"The BBC earlier this year announced that Tennant's final exit will feature the return of John Simm as the Master and former 007 Timothy Dalton - a fact confirmed when a still of the three leaked onto the interwebs".
I've not seen the new boy in anything so I can't comment on him - but Dalton should be interesting, and I'm definitely looking forward to Simm's return (as good as known from the careful not-saying-anything when fans quizzed the producer and directors ... though you can't beat an official confirmation, of course).
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009szrh, if you missed it - and there are still a couple "Eighth Doctor Adventures" and "Beyond the Vortex" specials left to boot].
> What's the difference between a Boffin and Scientist?
A scientist is a person who studies natural phenomena in a systematic manner, whereas a boffin is something people here frequently announce they'd like to be giving to Paris.
Quote: "I have an email from Mr. ChunkyLad69@hotmail. Mr. Lad asks me to perform terrible sexual acts", followed by "Who responds to business proposals like this?".
a nintendo DS with a web browser and a free pair of magnifying spectacles.....why the massive space around the screen?
"
I'm assuming that's because the chosen hardware best suited tight budget- and deadline-based constraints aimed at early market presence, and that (like the EeePC) the space around the screen didn't but may have been/in the next generation model will be less.
If I hadn't caught the first wave of netbooks with the EeePC 701, I'd be *very* interested - especially with there being a mainstream linux preinstalled (FWIW I've kept Asus' on the internal disk and use Debian on SDHC card as the increasing need for an up-to-date web browser arises). As it stands I'm happy to wait a bit this time round to see what additional features get bundled eventually.
// thumbs: nice to see "disk space left free" as a statistic
ADSL customers will be able to opt out as soon as the system goes live on ADSL some time in the next month or two, but until then the opt out link will not work.
"
I noticed we weren't getting the advanced network search page on the day this was reported, but it has kicked in since.
It would be nice if they checked the user agent to see whether the page might actually be sent to a pair of human eyes, but since they don't I've disabled it.
...Metro says DVO's "effort" won the booby prize*, although from your link to the Dave site you could only say Marx' and hers were among the worst (a strong correlation with "oldest" there, it would seem!)
@Andy Hockey Fri 13:16> "Have a look at http://web.aqa.org.uk/qual/uas/units/life.php
Be warned... do not drink coffee while reading.
"
I wholeheartedly endorse this recommendation.
From "Undressing and dressing oneself" (which, for some reason not immediately evident, is marked "special"): "Evidence to be offered: Youth leader completed itemised checklist and/or video evidence of the session (1-3)"
...read immediately after the Economist article referenced in "US State bans..."' comments.
Fraser> "Maybe their business model should have involved some sort of moderation of all videos posted, but this would have required even more money, which any fule kno you tube doesn't have any of.
"
With you on the "more proactive moderation". Based on what has become unavailable from my carefully-playlisted bookmarks and comparing to what's still there, it isn't even clear any effort is being spent on making sure people who click "flag this" have done so deliberately.
// we had a lecturer who *loved* the quote "the paperless office is about as likely as the paperless toilet", although when recounting the tale of my reacting with "sounds like a cack-handed argument to me" to absent peers I struggled to remember the attribution. In looking it up I discovered the above.
while developers aren't lawyers, it's pretty common knowledge that you can't include GPL code in a closed-source app. some MS developer probably took shortcuts and used it, and didn't even bother to raise a query with the (formidably large) support staff. A while down the line, someone notices the infringement, quietly points it out to MS, and they have to release the whole thing as GPL (trying to spin it in the process)
"
My (layman's) reading of the GPL is that there's no problem with mixing open and closed code *until* the point you want to distribute, and thereby seek to make a profit (financial/kudos/combination thereof) out of what you've made - the rationale being that you might have to do this to keep hardware in operation after a support contract has run out, or a company has gone bust.
The F/L/OSS community will have to be careful that this code can't be dispersed further in its current form, and Microsoft aren't revealing any surprising behind-the-scenes activity here - although there may be an argument that if they have this on a server somewhere and go on to sell services with it underneath, then they aren't distributing any code as per the terms of the license in so doing.
Cue revitalised arguments about moving the kernel to GPLv3...
Fraser> What I do find interesting is how reproducing a FAT based long filename system that is compatible with MS' VFAT avoids their patent on it. I know it only does either long or 8.3 filenames, but this seems open to some serious questions about infringement of VFAT patents.
The key point would seem to be that the patents specified in the TomTom case relate to data which enables directory entries (a conventional one which "holds a short filename for the file", the other[s] holding a "long filename for the file") to be equated. Having read the patch, it would seem that if some of that data is either not present or corrupt in some consistent way, then you retain some level of compatibility with your original 8+3-only or LFN-aware system* while avoiding having implemented what the patent describes.
* and possibly only that system of the two (I've not tried it). But it's still cunning.
Not full weight, not full size, yet apparently "This ultra-realistic accessory, allows you to mimic all the critical motions a ‘striking’ performance requires" [ctadigital.com].
Lawsuit anyone? There are already people who don't "get" why their local alley's house bricks don't react like a simulated pro ball, and presumably this will just encourage them to try and use inappropriately-weighted kit, and do so badly. (Further) danger of tendon damage this way lies.
> That there are so many of these that the available spectrum is flooded and there's no space for private, household devices any more.
Might not be too far off; I found one place last year which was affected by the number of other routers still on default settings in the vicinity, and -despite also working out that their advice was wrong- that night's staff couldn't even be bothered to pretend they might inform management there's some sort of problem; I seriously considered not going back there (but I did, and presumably enough people complained that it got sorted eventually).
...I've also known people successfully use their local's free-access details to google problems with disfunctional home routers, so it's not all bad ;)
As Paxman put it on University Challenge, "The human ear can hear frequencies in the range 20Hz to 20KHz. To the nearest whole number, how many octaves is that?"
...so much easier to remember with the additional context. And, I thought, a nice way of disguising a simple(?ish) maths question.
I found TOSback.org recently and, having expressed concern about Facebook's terse advice/small print in friend invitations previously, took the opportunity to review what members are advised about the invitation process.
On one hand I'm comforted that it's all quite legit but, on the other, I now know the full extent of the discrepancy involved ... and I'm not entirely sure which is worse.
From 2008: "Anyone who has ever met Lincoln knows that he is a very warm and affectionate type of guy. He has a lot of female friends and he very touchy-feely but that doesn''t necessarily mean he wants to jump into bed with them,"*
Of course not. The sheets would obscure the view, for a start.
Frank> Apart from the suspicion that the OS 'community' would not be able to see the point of producing a video like this, or any kind of advertising for that matter; what would a Penguinista promotional video look like?
Something like these, I'd have thought: http://video.linuxfoundation.org/contest/winners
....except Microsoft didn't "explain[ IE's] changes in terms of making the user more productive" in response to the Peacekeeper javascript testing; their blogger specifically noted that was in reaction to "browser X has superior speed and performance" claims in general - so this wasn't their sleight of hand, it was yours. They should be applauded for the public admission there were big-picture problems being addressed in the context of an evangelism piece.
The comparison did make me think of the "we sped up the boot process because companies lose so much time during reboots" reportage, though ... if only to wonder how much of *that* was journalistic "license" and Chinese whispers!
// Heaven's Gates 'cos he's innocent this time
William Towle
Re: I did check up from time to time to see if there was any progress.. →#
"Back in 2004 or so"? Quite. Leeds has had barriers installed since then. Several smaller WY stations are due to follow suit, including the unstaffed ones on the Calderdale line and probably others. Whether it's possible to get platform tickets is no longer clear (I've got a season pass and don't need to know). It would be a shame if someone's intentions are misread because they're no longer available.
As for fare-dodgers, gates aren't really going to help, but then I don't really think that's the point. The barstads just set about barging past you once you've put your ticket in the other side ... and they get to do it -more than before, I suspect- because the barriers mostly seem to serve as a staff-reducing exercise and hardly anybody's there to sort them out late at night (and probably wouldn't want to be).
Leeds' failure to open the gates when nobody's attending means your footfall opens the gate, you get winded by some ahole barging past, and their footfall ahead of you causes the gates to close in on you. It's not remotely pleasant!
"Where can I download a copy of TomToms modified Linux? Or do they use a "special" version of the GPL?"
Is this from the perspective of someone who does or doesn't own the device? The GPL [quoting v2 section 3] states "You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:" and all the subsections start "accompany it with".
...the point being that people with a device shouldn't be left high and dry for fixes if the company goes under, or are simply uncooperative. If anyone else can get the code, then the company is being generous with it (or their lawyers are paranoid).
Samsung UN55B8000 55" LED TV (Widescreen, 1920x1080, HDTV)
LG Electronics 42LH30 42" LCD TV (Widescreen, 1920x1080, HDTV)
Samsung UN55B8500 55" LED TV (Widescreen, 1920x1080, HDTV)
Samsung UN46B6000 46" LED TV (Widescreen, 1920x1080, HDTV)
Sony BRAVIA KDL-40EX400 40" LCD TV (Widescreen, 1920x1080, HDTV)
120 posts • joined Friday 8th June 2007 14:24 GMT
Page:
William Towle
Re: incompressible → #
Posted Friday 5th March 2010 13:07 GMT
In YouTube: Auto-captions for everyone
Eye sea whot ewe did their ;)
William Towle
Re: Wimps → # ↑
Posted Tuesday 2nd March 2010 10:40 GMT
In Large Hadron Collider in multi-magnet quench hiccup
> when i get a new car first thing i do is see how fast it goes
I assume from the fact you're still here that said car isn't a Toyota.
...hey, maybe they should take over the LHC - it'll be accelerating consistently in no time!
William Towle
Re: Stupid Advitisers(sic) → # ↑
Posted Friday 5th February 2010 14:49 GMT
In Directgov kids' site apes explosive gay porn brand
There's nothing wrong with "search online for xxxxx" as an approach to getting a web presence - that's how it's supposed to work when people can't remember, don't know, mistype, or receive a mistranscribed URL.
...what seems to be missing here is that nobody thought to *do* a "search online for xxxxx" and make sure the kids won't get XXX!
// ha ha, only serious :/
William Towle
"It’s hard to sit and read the dictionary..." → #
Posted Wednesday 27th January 2010 14:52 GMT
In California school pulls 'oral sex' dictionary
...the story's a bit fragmented, but at least it explains each word as it goes along.
William Towle
Re: Can they stop the BBC stroking themselves all the time? → # ↑
Posted Monday 4th January 2010 16:16 GMT
In US word czars unfriend shovel-ready toxic assets
Speaking of which, has there been an explanation for the disinction made between "dot-com" and "bbc-dot co-dot uk" yet?
Nothing like consistency...
William Towle
Re: This might be the final reason... → #
Posted Friday 11th December 2009 17:49 GMT
In Privacy furore forces partial climb-down from Facebook
Call me cynical but you'll get a whole lot more "you *need* to re-join" nags than you do invitations.
Naturally that's "you need" as in "I need you to do this so I can claim I'm 'inclusive' with my invitations without expending any effort to make sure it's true", not as in "I am aware of, understand, and respect your actual needs".
And they call this progress.
William Towle
Key planks, indeed! → #
Posted Tuesday 8th December 2009 13:37 GMT
In Brown launches 'Zip it, Block it, Flag it' net code for children
Quote> "Today we are launching our online version of the 'green cross code'. We hope that ‘zip it, block it, flag it’ will become as familiar to this generation as ‘stop, look, listen’ did to the last."
Don't they want us to "...think!" any more?
// Yes I have googled it. To which I say: "Can't run around", "Can't kick a ball for 3 weeks", "No swimming for 6 weeks"? Is http://talesoftheroad.direct.gov.uk/stop-look-listen.php a safety campaign or advice for getting out of P.E.?!!
William Towle
Re: @Unprofessional Type → # ↑
Posted Thursday 26th November 2009 16:38 GMT
In Microsoft enlists faceless girl band as face of Windows 7
There are some odd design decisions here (IMHO) :(
Firstly, the default width of my history sidebar means I can't tell from the labels which is a comments page and which is an article. This wouldn't be so bad but the former now leads to a 404 page (IIRC it was just the comment submit pages that did this before, which is understandable). Given the similarity between URLs for both it would be simple to have a "back to article" at least, no? This is going to be annoying when the browser crashes (it's IE and I'm at work so there's nothing I can do about it. In fact -grr- it's just done that and I'm typing this *again*. Dammit).
I agree that the "<n> comments" would be better as a choice of comments pages (@GP) if there are going to be several (ahh, is *that* what happened?!!). This would be useful when deciding whether to read comments from the first or just peek at the latest later on (etc). This would, of course, still suffer from moderator approvals between page-load and link-click making the tally wrong (@finbarr above), but I (for one) can live with that.
Lastly, I don't seem to be able to cut and paste - which is going to make quoting a royal PITA.
William Towle
@{Robert Long 1, Eric Hood} → #
Posted Wednesday 18th November 2009 16:25 GMT
In High-tech 'blade runner' legs better than real ones - profs
"...motorbike..."?
Two words - Fred Lorz.
// see, amongst other resources, http://sports.indiainfo.com/article/090902205443_ten_disgraceful_events_of_sporting_world/436241.html
William Towle
Re: fail article is fail → #
Posted Friday 13th November 2009 16:02 GMT
In MS patent looks just like Unix command, critics howl
frymaster> "
the patent CITES THE SUDO MANUAL. I am not a lawyer, shady or otherwise, but if I _WERE_ a shady lawyer I'd point out to my clients that a reference to the invention you're trying to steal is maybe unwise
from this I conclude that it's not supposed to be about sudo.
"
I'm with you on this one. If I run `sudo foo` for some command "foo", then I'll be running the command with elevated privileges both *at my request* and *regardless of need* (I'm thinking `sudo ls /`, but `sudo ifconfig eth0` fails if /sbin isn't in $PATH - something that could be checked before the password prompt).
If their implementation causes "the device to present a user interface in response to a task being prohibited based on a user's current account not having a right to permit the task", then it implies some part of the system is waiting for the need for privilege escalation before it intervenes; 'sudo' clearly doesn't check for "[the] user's current account not having a right to permit the task" first. The two are different, QED.
William Towle
@D@v3 → #
Posted Friday 13th November 2009 13:47 GMT
In Dirty, dirty PCs: The X-rated picture guide
D@v3> "
I saw something similar to the one from the school once, strangely enough, in a school i worked at. The little scroates made a habit of removing the blanking plates on the front (and back) of the machines, and just pushing stuff in.
"
Methinks that's at least two folks who were lucky the perps did it to get stuff *in*!
William Towle
Re: I still don't really see the point..... → #
Posted Wednesday 4th November 2009 16:13 GMT
In Hands on with Asus' redesigned Eee Keyboard
Piloti> Wasn't there a Wang or Apricot or something like that that had a built in screen int he keyboard..... ?
Apricot PC (http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=499): "the keyboard was quite original with 8 "normal" and 6 flat programmable function keys along with a built-in LCD screen (40 characters / 2 lines) which displayed the function of the keys" (see also the Xen and Xi models).
I liked the idea that the function keys could be custom-labelled without the need for a loseable card strip or a second line on the screen - but this was, inevitably, rendered rather passe by high-resolution screens with WIMP GUIs. This seems to be the next iteration of that. It's cool, and it will be interesting to see what developments it inspires ... but right now I can't see it's got anything to offer over my netbook+desktop combo.
William Towle
Re: The Irish accent? → #
Posted Tuesday 3rd November 2009 12:13 GMT
In Irish brogue voted world's sexiest accent
AC> Which one? We've a lot of different accents here. From the snot nosed brats in Dublin 4, to the muck savage in the back end of Cork.
Indeed: as Patrick Kielty said on Top Gear, when asked where he's from (Belfast, IIRC) he commonly gets "Top o' the mornin' to ya" in a Cork accent in return - and this annoys him so much he's tempted to react "why aye man" if the questioner turns out to be from London. 'Twas nicely put ... better than rewritten here, but then again I don't tell jokes for a living ;)
@Lee: having crushed on Kylie quite a bit when I was younger, I for one can appreciate the relative success of the "Australian" vote.
// pint should be black (well, ruby-brown) obviously
William Towle
This one, methinks → #
Posted Monday 2nd November 2009 03:40 GMT
In Ofcom swoops on kiddie's bedroom
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5344008/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CHome+entertainment+and+sat+nav%7C14419512/c_2/2%7Ccat_14419512%7CClearance+Home+entertainment+and+sat+nav%7C14520847/gotoTab/reviews.htm
// (I've got the non-signal-boosting TCE2000, it turns out)
William Towle
"how long it had been interfering with pilot's communications we don't know" → #
Posted Friday 30th October 2009 15:43 GMT
In Ofcom swoops on kiddie's bedroom
...but it's certain he's bl**dy annoyed by now.
// I've got one of those.
William Towle
@S Larti → #
Posted Monday 19th October 2009 14:01 GMT
In Beeb gets grief for Humpty Dumpty rewrite
> "Ah yes,
It's PC gone MAAAAAAAAAAD!
"
You can't say that in this day and age - it's offensive to the mentally unstable.
// could do with "beyond-a-joke alert"
William Towle
Re: @ Mike Bird 1 → #
Posted Thursday 15th October 2009 12:56 GMT
In Ralph Lauren stick insect sacked for being 'too fat'
Jason Togneri> "
Erm, measuring fatness by BMI has long been debunked as inaccurate and basically utter bollocks, there being hundreds of factors it doesn't take into account and whatnot.
Try this, for example: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14483512/
"
This article hardly does a good job of debunking BMI: it quotes someone who says there are flaws and then fails to list them! What it *does* claim is there may be better measurements (which is a fair comment). It also says "[BMI] measurement usually works well because BMI does give the right answer when averaged across many people" - which is to be expected: rather than failing to take "hundreds of factors into account", average values are assumed (factored into the range of BMI values bounding the various "fatness" categories).
The other problem is that to claim one is better at measuring the same thing is to compare apples and oranges. Waist-to-hip ratio is just that - a ratio; dimensionless. BMI is in kg/m^2: if (as I think I read here before) we assume weight is proportional to volume, and height to shoulder width, the result of the calculation is proportional to *your* waist radius (the smaller or the larger of the two, as appropriate). If you've ever patted your belly to see how bloated you are - and I'm very good at knowing my weight from that these days :( - it's not that unintuitive a measure at all ... if you've analysed what it's trying to achieve.
William Towle
Cool! → #
Posted Tuesday 6th October 2009 14:00 GMT
In Beeb unveils new Doctor Who logo
"The BBC earlier this year announced that Tennant's final exit will feature the return of John Simm as the Master and former 007 Timothy Dalton - a fact confirmed when a still of the three leaked onto the interwebs".
I've not seen the new boy in anything so I can't comment on him - but Dalton should be interesting, and I'm definitely looking forward to Simm's return (as good as known from the careful not-saying-anything when fans quizzed the producer and directors ... though you can't beat an official confirmation, of course).
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009szrh, if you missed it - and there are still a couple "Eighth Doctor Adventures" and "Beyond the Vortex" specials left to boot].
// PH icon for the "?", natch.
William Towle
Oblig. @AC 15:03 2009-09-15 → #
Posted Wednesday 16th September 2009 10:53 GMT
In Warning: Showers can seriously damage your health
> What's the difference between a Boffin and Scientist?
A scientist is a person who studies natural phenomena in a systematic manner, whereas a boffin is something people here frequently announce they'd like to be giving to Paris.
// Humph is dead, long live Humph
William Towle
Shake it? → #
Posted Monday 14th September 2009 09:35 GMT
In Microsoft Office for the iPhone (without the Microsoft)
article> To undo an action, you need to shake your iPhone, which brings up an Undo/Redo dialog.
There's a Dilbert for that.
http://pics.livejournal.com/allah_sulu/pic/0002f3h8/g13
William Towle
What's the day? Friday! → #
Posted Friday 28th August 2009 14:43 GMT
In Lad from Lagos makes YouTube pitch
Quote: "I have an email from Mr. ChunkyLad69@hotmail. Mr. Lad asks me to perform terrible sexual acts", followed by "Who responds to business proposals like this?".
Says the twittering 419er.
// :D
I smell parody
William Towle
Re: yippee.... → #
Posted Thursday 27th August 2009 11:29 GMT
In Sharp intros 5in ARM-based netbook
richard 69> "
a nintendo DS with a web browser and a free pair of magnifying spectacles.....why the massive space around the screen?
"
I'm assuming that's because the chosen hardware best suited tight budget- and deadline-based constraints aimed at early market presence, and that (like the EeePC) the space around the screen didn't but may have been/in the next generation model will be less.
If I hadn't caught the first wave of netbooks with the EeePC 701, I'd be *very* interested - especially with there being a mainstream linux preinstalled (FWIW I've kept Asus' on the internal disk and use Debian on SDHC card as the increasing need for an up-to-date web browser arises). As it stands I'm happy to wait a bit this time round to see what additional features get bundled eventually.
// thumbs: nice to see "disk space left free" as a statistic
William Towle
Re: @Peter Ashworth → #
Posted Wednesday 26th August 2009 20:16 GMT
In Virgin hijacks empty pages
AC> "
ADSL customers will be able to opt out as soon as the system goes live on ADSL some time in the next month or two, but until then the opt out link will not work.
"
I noticed we weren't getting the advanced network search page on the day this was reported, but it has kicked in since.
It would be nice if they checked the user agent to see whether the page might actually be sent to a pair of human eyes, but since they don't I've disabled it.
William Towle
Strange... → #
Posted Monday 24th August 2009 14:52 GMT
In Hedgehog quip secures Fringe's top gag crown
...Metro says DVO's "effort" won the booby prize*, although from your link to the Dave site you could only say Marx' and hers were among the worst (a strong correlation with "oldest" there, it would seem!)
* http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/edfest/article.html?Hedgehog_joke_wins_best_at_Fringe&in_article_id=724990&in_page_id=9
ObPersonalFavourite: Phil Nicol's "A lot of people say I'm egocentric – but enough about them", followed closely by Antopolski's other one.
William Towle
Poor poor world, what a state → #
Posted Friday 14th August 2009 15:17 GMT
In Lad passes gruelling 'getting on bus' test
@Andy Hockey Fri 13:16> "Have a look at http://web.aqa.org.uk/qual/uas/units/life.php
Be warned... do not drink coffee while reading.
"
I wholeheartedly endorse this recommendation.
From "Undressing and dressing oneself" (which, for some reason not immediately evident, is marked "special"): "Evidence to be offered: Youth leader completed itemised checklist and/or video evidence of the session (1-3)"
...read immediately after the Economist article referenced in "US State bans..."' comments.
Truly I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
William Towle
Re: Err → #
Posted Monday 10th August 2009 11:20 GMT
In YouTube clarifies ban on privacy, harassment and threats
Fraser> "Maybe their business model should have involved some sort of moderation of all videos posted, but this would have required even more money, which any fule kno you tube doesn't have any of.
"
With you on the "more proactive moderation". Based on what has become unavailable from my carefully-playlisted bookmarks and comparing to what's still there, it isn't even clear any effort is being spent on making sure people who click "flag this" have done so deliberately.
William Towle
Re: Please God NOoooooo... → #
Posted Monday 10th August 2009 08:45 GMT
In Microsoft assaults our senses with 'viral' Bing video
Ishy> "
Wear pants like his... Ha ha ha ha ha.
"
Nice of him to point that out, wasn't it.
William Towle
Misread specification? → #
Posted Tuesday 4th August 2009 11:30 GMT
In Aussie net filtering goes into reverse
/!\ Access to the requested page has been denied /!\
Reason: filter detected NSW content
William Towle
Re: Extreme dunny design → #
Posted Wednesday 29th July 2009 11:15 GMT
In Aussie woman's toilet trauma prompts lav-overhaul call
Antti Roppola> Roll on the paperless loo?
Long time done: http://paperlesstoilet.com/
// we had a lecturer who *loved* the quote "the paperless office is about as likely as the paperless toilet", although when recounting the tale of my reacting with "sounds like a cack-handed argument to me" to absent peers I struggled to remember the attribution. In looking it up I discovered the above.
William Towle
Wedged in dunny for seven days? → #
Posted Tuesday 28th July 2009 13:48 GMT
In Aussie woman's toilet trauma prompts lav-overhaul call
...Sunday to Saturday, presumably.
// all together now...
William Towle
Interesting Times (Ex: losing their job) → #
Posted Thursday 23rd July 2009 12:43 GMT
In Microsoft opened Linux-driver code after 'violating' GPL
frymaster> "
while developers aren't lawyers, it's pretty common knowledge that you can't include GPL code in a closed-source app. some MS developer probably took shortcuts and used it, and didn't even bother to raise a query with the (formidably large) support staff. A while down the line, someone notices the infringement, quietly points it out to MS, and they have to release the whole thing as GPL (trying to spin it in the process)
"
My (layman's) reading of the GPL is that there's no problem with mixing open and closed code *until* the point you want to distribute, and thereby seek to make a profit (financial/kudos/combination thereof) out of what you've made - the rationale being that you might have to do this to keep hardware in operation after a support contract has run out, or a company has gone bust.
The F/L/OSS community will have to be careful that this code can't be dispersed further in its current form, and Microsoft aren't revealing any surprising behind-the-scenes activity here - although there may be an argument that if they have this on a server somewhere and go on to sell services with it underneath, then they aren't distributing any code as per the terms of the license in so doing.
Cue revitalised arguments about moving the kernel to GPLv3...
William Towle
Pun not intended? → #
Posted Tuesday 21st July 2009 15:52 GMT
In Tasered Oz man bursts into flames
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25812982-421,00.html:
"
Mr Mitchell ran from a house at police officers carrying a cigarette lighter and a container believed to contain fuel, police said.
[..."]officers were concerned that they were going to be burnt so they deployed a Taser," Mr O'Callaghan said.
"The only other choice they would have had is to use a police issue firearm and the circumstances would almost certainly have been far more grave."
"
// nice bit of black humour to brighten up the day...
William Towle
@Fraser @ElReg!comment!Pierre → #
Posted Wednesday 8th July 2009 13:06 GMT
In Linux patch sidesteps Microsoft's TomTom patent
Fraser> What I do find interesting is how reproducing a FAT based long filename system that is compatible with MS' VFAT avoids their patent on it. I know it only does either long or 8.3 filenames, but this seems open to some serious questions about infringement of VFAT patents.
The key point would seem to be that the patents specified in the TomTom case relate to data which enables directory entries (a conventional one which "holds a short filename for the file", the other[s] holding a "long filename for the file") to be equated. Having read the patch, it would seem that if some of that data is either not present or corrupt in some consistent way, then you retain some level of compatibility with your original 8+3-only or LFN-aware system* while avoiding having implemented what the patent describes.
* and possibly only that system of the two (I've not tried it). But it's still cunning.
William Towle
"Ultra-realistic"??? → #
Posted Friday 26th June 2009 17:31 GMT
In Wii bowling ball rolls in
Not full weight, not full size, yet apparently "This ultra-realistic accessory, allows you to mimic all the critical motions a ‘striking’ performance requires" [ctadigital.com].
Lawsuit anyone? There are already people who don't "get" why their local alley's house bricks don't react like a simulated pro ball, and presumably this will just encourage them to try and use inappropriately-weighted kit, and do so badly. (Further) danger of tendon damage this way lies.
// custom controller for Cannon Fodder?
William Towle
Ray0x6, new keyboard please → #
Posted Thursday 25th June 2009 10:47 GMT
In Kate Moss kills Kills cuts
> http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17366-how-celebrities-stay-famous-regardless-of-talent.html
Quote: "Take Paris Hilton, somehow or another she became well known and now people are more likely to talk about her," Fast says.
H'yeah. He knows, but he's not saying!
William Towle
Re: One has to wonder if the day will come → #
Posted Monday 22nd June 2009 13:27 GMT
In BT deposits Wi-Fi in cashpoints
> That there are so many of these that the available spectrum is flooded and there's no space for private, household devices any more.
Might not be too far off; I found one place last year which was affected by the number of other routers still on default settings in the vicinity, and -despite also working out that their advice was wrong- that night's staff couldn't even be bothered to pretend they might inform management there's some sort of problem; I seriously considered not going back there (but I did, and presumably enough people complained that it got sorted eventually).
...I've also known people successfully use their local's free-access details to google problems with disfunctional home routers, so it's not all bad ;)
William Towle
100Hz to around 10,000Hz?? → #
Posted Friday 12th June 2009 12:15 GMT
In 'Bionic ear' can detect Wi-Fi, FM,GPS signals simultaneously
As Paxman put it on University Challenge, "The human ear can hear frequencies in the range 20Hz to 20KHz. To the nearest whole number, how many octaves is that?"
...so much easier to remember with the additional context. And, I thought, a nice way of disguising a simple(?ish) maths question.
William Towle
They do say ignorance is bliss... → #
Posted Thursday 11th June 2009 14:04 GMT
In New tool tracks sites' small print shuffling
I found TOSback.org recently and, having expressed concern about Facebook's terse advice/small print in friend invitations previously, took the opportunity to review what members are advised about the invitation process.
On one hand I'm comforted that it's all quite legit but, on the other, I now know the full extent of the discrepancy involved ... and I'm not entirely sure which is worse.
William Towle
...though he *is* "very warm and affectionate" → #
Posted Friday 5th June 2009 12:49 GMT
In Home and Away star in 'Lewinsky' moment
From 2008: "Anyone who has ever met Lincoln knows that he is a very warm and affectionate type of guy. He has a lot of female friends and he very touchy-feely but that doesn''t necessarily mean he wants to jump into bed with them,"*
Of course not. The sheets would obscure the view, for a start.
(* http://www.topnews.in/stephanie-rice-lincoln-lewis-very-very-close-friends-294641)
William Towle
Re: Yes but.... → #
Posted Saturday 30th May 2009 15:33 GMT
In Microsoft, Asus launch anti-Linuxbook campaign
Frank> Apart from the suspicion that the OS 'community' would not be able to see the point of producing a video like this, or any kind of advertising for that matter; what would a Penguinista promotional video look like?
Something like these, I'd have thought: http://video.linuxfoundation.org/contest/winners
!!
William Towle
And there was me thinking... → #
Posted Friday 29th May 2009 11:57 GMT
In Microsoft's Google challenger is not a search engine
"Ned? Ned Ryerson?"
"Bing!"
Oh. My. God.
// Friends reference accidental
William Towle
Ted... → #
Posted Tuesday 19th May 2009 12:48 GMT
In Wolfram Alpha - a new kind of Fail
(Theodore) Logan, surely ... dude!
William Towle
Apples and Oranges → #
Posted Saturday 16th May 2009 19:49 GMT
In Microsoft's JavaScript strategy hurting IE 8?
....except Microsoft didn't "explain[ IE's] changes in terms of making the user more productive" in response to the Peacekeeper javascript testing; their blogger specifically noted that was in reaction to "browser X has superior speed and performance" claims in general - so this wasn't their sleight of hand, it was yours. They should be applauded for the public admission there were big-picture problems being addressed in the context of an evangelism piece.
The comparison did make me think of the "we sped up the boot process because companies lose so much time during reboots" reportage, though ... if only to wonder how much of *that* was journalistic "license" and Chinese whispers!
// Heaven's Gates 'cos he's innocent this time
William Towle
Re: I did check up from time to time to see if there was any progress.. → #
Posted Thursday 7th May 2009 18:37 GMT
In Duke Nukem Forever developer defunct, says staffer
Smallbrainfield> "There was some talk that it might see the light of day this year. Or was it next year?"
There's been talk of this seeing the light of day *for some time*!
// beats quoting Slashdot memes verbatim. So passe'. Well, except on Slashdot itself...
William Towle
Re: photo → #
Posted Monday 6th April 2009 15:27 GMT
In Terry Pratchett cuts ribbon on Treacle Mine Road
mitch> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7984118.stm
I liked Metro's better: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Terry_Pratchett_and_his_fantasy_streets&in_article_id=610846&in_page_id=34
William Towle
Re: More profanity plz → #
Posted Sunday 29th March 2009 14:08 GMT
In LG fu**ed off with swearing
Christopher Martin> Can I have a tv mod that replaces irritating beeps with random profanities?
...that'd certainly make the test card interesting!
// showing my age again... :/
William Towle
Re: did anyone investigate → #
Posted Wednesday 18th March 2009 15:12 GMT
In Boffins finger reason for non-aligned cows
bandor> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_magnet
...from which comes the beautifully rhythmic phrase "[...]4th bonivial meta-colon".
If Colfer's continuation of HitchHiker's turns out to be a pile of the proverbial, then I know who *I* want doing the next one!!
// http://eoincolfer.com/news/hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy/cover-art-for-hitchhikers-6-and-another-thing-revealed/203/
William Towle
@AC, 11:49 → #
Posted Monday 16th March 2009 16:02 GMT
In National Express to 'ban' trainspotting
"Back in 2004 or so"? Quite. Leeds has had barriers installed since then. Several smaller WY stations are due to follow suit, including the unstaffed ones on the Calderdale line and probably others. Whether it's possible to get platform tickets is no longer clear (I've got a season pass and don't need to know). It would be a shame if someone's intentions are misread because they're no longer available.
As for fare-dodgers, gates aren't really going to help, but then I don't really think that's the point. The barstads just set about barging past you once you've put your ticket in the other side ... and they get to do it -more than before, I suspect- because the barriers mostly seem to serve as a staff-reducing exercise and hardly anybody's there to sort them out late at night (and probably wouldn't want to be).
Leeds' failure to open the gates when nobody's attending means your footfall opens the gate, you get winded by some ahole barging past, and their footfall ahead of you causes the gates to close in on you. It's not remotely pleasant!
// venting makes me feel good!!
William Towle
Re: Smooth → #
Posted Friday 13th March 2009 15:29 GMT
In BOFH: Cable entanglements
Robert Conlon> Gotta say it makes me want to abuse the herd a little this morning.
There's a mental picture I didn't want after the closing paragraph. Please assure me you're referring to lusers??
William Towle
Re: Where is Tom Toms GPLed code? → #
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 10:52 GMT
In Microsoft trades goodwill for TomTom Linux satisfaction
"Where can I download a copy of TomToms modified Linux? Or do they use a "special" version of the GPL?"
Is this from the perspective of someone who does or doesn't own the device? The GPL [quoting v2 section 3] states "You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:" and all the subsections start "accompany it with".
...the point being that people with a device shouldn't be left high and dry for fixes if the company goes under, or are simply uncooperative. If anyone else can get the code, then the company is being generous with it (or their lawyers are paranoid).
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