Re: But there IS a grey area...

"People's car speedometers are less accurate than speed cameras, the older the car, the less accurate the speedo."

But the speed camera is not registering how fast you're going. It is beaming out to a wide swathe of the world a signal and seeing what shift it is getting back and converting that to speed.

a) a bush in the wind (ooer!) may register a speed of 95mph and be "accepted" as your speed

b) the conversion needs calibration

Re: Pot, Kettle, Blackhat... and @Mark Re: Bad Form

Isn't that tautology?

H&S == S&M

:-)

"essentially incomprehensible machines"

I find that statement essentially incomprehensible.

The machines are entirely comprehensible:

Charged particles.

Accelerator ring.

Lots of energy.

Been producing these machines for decades. Nothing incomprehensible about the machines.

Now if they don't produce a Higgs Boson but do produce items that have the scientists think "Huh. That's odd...", this will be unknown but not incomprehensible (unless God really is going to turn up and spell "Sorry for the inconvenience" for no reason.

Strangelets may be essentially incomprehensibe and so may be micro black holes (because they are smaller than the smallest particle that science can tell us anything about). But they probably won't even turn up. Partly because they *are* incomprehensible and hence unlikely to exist in a universe that we have so far had great success in comprehending. Failing to comprehend *just right now* would be a little odd.

Re: Breaking a law

And sitting on a bus and not walking to the back if a white person wants a seat was breaking the law.

Speeding is *definitely* not on this scale, but using "it's the law so we must obey" is purely wrong.

Re: Morons

Generally true.

However, their placement and feature creep are based on incorrect statistics. If I gave a statistic that banning broccoli saved 976 people each year based in a PFMA rigorous test on the effect of high-iron foodstuffs on the UK population, should this mean that we pay to have broccoli changed? Or have packaging show how much broccoli is contained ("may contain broccoli")? No. Why? Because the figure was pulled from my arse. Now you may find out that one or two people a year die within hours after eating a meal containing broccoli, but does that mean that my proposal should stand?

And we don't want to reward PFMA statistics. And certainly NOT from our government.

Re: Bad Form

You in health and safety by any chance, Dunstan? Your phraseology would indicate it...

Re: Staff are our Greatest Asset......

What about "we must remain competitive with salaries" to mean "paycut or we sack you". This jars with "we must pay competitive rates to get the right people" to mean "wodge of wonga for the executives".

And edwin, you're the idiot. The details were about the employment agreements with the union members. Should the union agree not to tell their members what the agreement is? FFS, you are either REALLY enjoying the ass-reaming you're getting or you're a manager (who gets access to this information and so doesn't see a problem with someone else not knowing).

Strange thinking

"One might cautiously suggest, however, that the emerging popular picture of the linkage between current biofuel supplies and rainforest destruction and high food prices seems to be borne out."

Given they don't know where it's coming from, what is producing it and how much, why is it that we can bind destruction of rainforest and high food prices to biofuel production?

Heck, if this was about how burning oil produces global warming, you'd be jumping up and down, screaming like shit yelling "PROVE IT PROVE IT PROVE IT!!!!!" yet when it comes to man's effect when following "green" options, it's completely correct to draw conclusions based on "well, it's obvious that we can't rule destruction from humans out, so it must be true".

Silly me

I thought this was about people being bullied to use *Vista* (Verified by Vista).

D'oh!

PS I've had a cold call from my bank and they wanted security questions answered and I asked what it was about to see if they needed to know this. Unfortunately, knowing the answer to what they wanted to talk to me about was insecure (unlike me giving them my mothers maiden name, which is of no use to scammers...).

re: "educate the public"

Well I would agree this wouldn't educate the public except how incompetent even Black Hat conference organisers are and journalists of *tech publications* are about security.

If the conference can't stop someone just surfing details off their network that should be unavailable to the snooper, then the **** Black Hat **** conference is not about security. Probably just a way to get an international jollie.

And knowing that is damn useful to the public.

Re: Was it just me?

Well, they don't make industrial-scale toothbrushes, but "economies of scale" still happen when making them.

And did you realise that by NOT turning off the devices they will continue to use energy?

Mwron

Missed out on the subtext

"Jock's Trap For Underworld".

re: @Mark

Bez, Graham had it a lot closer than you.

Re: Computing the weather

Unfortunately, "same as today" gets less and less accurate geometrically.

75% right for a one-day forecast

56% two days

42% three days

23% five days.

a model forecast is 85% and gets less accurate depending on how predictable the system is, so is generally linearly (or sub-linearly less accurate:

85% right for a one-day forecast

75% two days

65% three

45% five

(figures are a little pessimistic).

So a five-day forecast is better than saying "the same as today" is in three days.

Stop sunsidising coal

or nuclear or oil (let the oil companies hire mercenaries to invade Iraq and keep the oil flowing in US$ rather than Euros).

Silly question

If the evidence is circumstantial, then of COURSE there's still room for doubt. Else the evidence would not be circumstantial.

Sheesh are you guys lazy today or what??

A little more on Sony

I suppose that I should up the numbers too because of piracy. After all, if Jammie is responsible for potentially unlimited numbers of people copying one of the 24 tracks she shared, then Sony are responsible for the piracy of their rootkitted CD causing more infringement of the LAME copyrights.

And Sony keeps on telling us how much is lost to piracy, so that must be a HUGE number of piracted CD's. Potentially all of them with LAME copyrighted code on them!

Trillions!!!!

Re: Just wondering...

It then goes back to what it used to be: the copyright owner has to police the infringement of THEIR copyrights, not palm the work *but not the money* on to the government or ISP.

This is why Sony remains solvent: I would have sued them for infringing on the GPL code for LAME in their rootkit except for the fact that only the copyright holder can institute a copyright claim in court.

Sony infringed several MILLION copies and at £30,000 each (or more because it was willful infringement and for profit) this would have been BILLIONS in damages, maybe hundreds of billions.

Re: What's the problem?

"P2P is used primarily (wholly?) for the prorogation of copyrighted material (movies, songs, software etc). "

Well since EVERYTHING is copyrighted (now that it is OK to steal from the public domain) this is tautologically true. It isn't a lot of use, however. This message is copyrighted and HTTP is used primarily (wholly?) for the propagation of copyrighted material (like this message, movies [88% of youtube is not infringing material], songs, software [GPL] etc [creative commons]).

So what's the problem?

Just from the opposite side you've taken...

Re: I would say...

Actually, I think that GWB would be a nice person to know if it weren't for his family. Without them he would be flipping burgers somewhere rather than in charge of a nuclear superpower and as a burger flipper I would (I'd suspect) be *happy* to make his acquaintance.

overpopulation.

Given how hard it is to get people to drive less or go slower how likely is it to get people to shag less, never mind "do their part" in a soylent-green stylee?

Are you willing to do your part and shuffle off this mortal coil? Or will you complain that it will just be taken up by the Africans having more kids (ignoring that they don't pop out and shoot all the way to Croyden)?

Re: @Go Live in a Jungle

Well I have the right to take your life away, yes? If not, then you DO have the right to life.

Plants need CO2.

Unfortunately they need the water we want, the land we want and the oil we want (as pesticides and fertilisers) too.

Unless you're going to eat plants made of pure carbon. In which case, may I turn you to a diet of graphite (pencils).

Mmm-mmm! Tasty!

re: weather is fractal

Oddly enough it is only the deniers who use individual events to prove their story (namely that this summer was cool and wet so global warming is wrong).

re:Horizon

"There have been several ( I forget the number) "spikes" where CO2 rapidly rose, but in every case, the rise in temperature was followed by the rise in CO2."

"I can't find a reference anywhere to this programme now, and I really would like to. I'm not dreaming it, and the longer I look without finding it, the more suspicious I get."

"All we get these days is the hockey stick doom graph. The other graph was more accurate."

So you can't remember the actual graphs but you KNOW that this graph is more accurate than one you *can* get hold of? How does that work? The less you know, the more likely it is to be true??? No, it can't be that because you know fuck all about the hockey stick too.

Can you remember that there was a lag of 800 years between the rise in temps and the rise in CO2? Yet if the same processes are happening now as happened then, where's the equivalent 800-year-old temperature rise?

Would've been safe in the UK or US

Because everybody here and in the US keeps telling us workers that what we have on the work computer and our emails at work is not our property and we have no right or expectation of privacy.

Unless it's Two Jags complaining about people seeing and reporting on him going to his grace and favour residence with a little bit of "grace and favour" on his arm...

Meh. It's because they fiddled the figures

Before the congestion they changed the light synchronisation to increase the problems on the road so that, when they turn back to the old system when congestion charge had been put in place, they can turn around and say "see! it works! traffic problems are reduced!".

But when you take the figures from long before the congestion change and long after, you lose the fiddle that they made.

"If you live here there is a 40% chance of rain."

My problem with that is that you can NEVER BE WRONG. You just say "well, it was the other chance".

Re: Re: Quoth

From LotR:

"Deserves it! I dare say he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death and judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends."

I was pleased that, in the post-11/9 hysteria (hey, the rest of the world had worse bombings and loss of life but THAT didn't get you all antsy for "saving the world", did it!) this was included in the film.

Pity nobody was listening over there.

Re: Met Office needs windows

Uh, who hasn't heard of the observing network? I suspect these "weather observers" use windows (or doors as egress to the scary "outside", scorning the dangers of paedophiles, axe murderers and Al Qaida in the selfless persuit of knowledge) to view the weather and report on it.

Unfortunately, the view outside doesn't yet contain any tachyon emissions so the view to the future (forecasting) is not amenable to the "look out the window" method.

Re: That's all very well but what about the forecast on the telly

"Before 'the office' had any super computers at all, the weather forecasts were much better."

So you've kept a record of how often the weather forecast has been right and how often it's been wrong, then? I'm pretty sure that the Met Office would like those figures... Unless you pulled them from your arse.

Re: Not a 12A

If 12A meant "12 or up, but an adult needs to consider it" I.e. a higher-than-12-certificate.

As it is, it's "PG-with-bells".

Re: Living/working urban/rural

It's now more people commute because they can't get a local job. It used to be that your workplace was in one place in town and you lived nearby. Then the workplaces stopped employing you and the moved out of town where nobody lived.

It's a lot easier to get the sack than to move house.

So you either drive to work or become unemployed.

You could move, but then THAT workplace moves/goes out of business/RIF's you out and you have to move again.

Add in that public transport was moved to "a business" rather than "a service" and you get accountants reducing service in small towns and villages because they don't make a profit. So the people there NEED cars now or go less often. And fewer people means that the price is put up or the system closed. And if the price goes up, fewer people still use it so it is still going to go out of service anyway.

Re: Not the solution

Scott Adams pointed out the problem with video conferencing: why waste bandwidth transmitting pictures of people whose faces you'd rather not see in any case?

Store a local picture representation if you want and animate that face.

Re: Bagsie 'going forward' then.

Hooo shit! I think I'll go for "proactive".

I mean, what the FUCK does that mean? You're for activity? You aren't amateur any more? What?

@Anonymous Coward

Uh, how did you find out about the Climactic Optimum if there's a huge conspiracy about global warming???

Aye, I understand: you're a fuckwit.

@M7S

Pirates are the Chosen Prophets of the FSM (Pasta Be Upon Him) and Global Warming is His Noodlyness' Holy Retribution for our murder of His Chosen.

So, yes. Pirate away. And you will come Closer To Him and the World Shall Be Saved!

@dervheid "eco-nazi" is not sarcasm, it's indicative of you being a shit-eating mough breather polluting the planet and busy pissing in the shallow end of the gene pool

(note for the fuckwits: the above was sarcasm. honest).

Re: Crap Crap and Crap on top

And how many microlights can lift a family of five and their luggage for their holiday?

To manage to lift the sort of levels that "need a big car", you either need speed or VERY big wings, because lift varies with airspeed and wing sizes.

Otherwise you need some sort of helicopter arrangement and we all know how fuel efficient THOSE are!

Please, before you complain about my crap, wipe the shit out of your eyes and have a look at life first, yes?

Re: doh

So what is going to be the turning circle for these cars?

Not a huge amount smaller.

The technical difficulties of getting the small car flying without an idiot creating a lawn dart get bigger the smaller and more manoeverable the car is.

The smaller the car, the more moving about will cause the car to cant.

And the sort of fog that causes aircraft (of ANY type) to be grounded is very much thinner than the fog that would have drivers going less than the maximum speed at.

Re: doh

So what is going to be the turning circle for these cars?

Not a huge amount smaller.

The technical difficulties of getting the small car flying without an idiot creating a lawn dart get bigger the smaller and more manoeverable the car is.

The smaller the car, the more moving about will cause the car to cant.

And the sort of fog that causes aircraft (of ANY type) to be grounded is very much thinner than the fog that would have drivers going less than the maximum speed at.

PS if there are runways then these need to be able to handle the craft landing and modifying their speed on the runway while the next car is behind them. This increases the minimum flight distance between cars available and also ensures that you have a very much more limited area where cars can go from flying to rolling, increasing congestion.

@jolly

And the SAM system attachment!

PS I wonder how New York would accept this method of transport around the replacement memorial for the twin towers....