* Posts by Mike

87 publicly visible posts • joined 14 Nov 2007

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Triangular buttons key to touchscreen typing success - inventor

Mike
Boffin

@wrong order

<trivia>

Actually, in the early days of typewriters, the keys were in alphabetical order, but the mechanics of the device kept jamming and the load was disproportionally skewed to one area of the mechanics. Someone, I know not who, rearranged the keys to slow down the typists and effectively "load balance" the keyboard, which left us with what we have today.

</triva>

It's fun to learn, because knowledge is power!

Power to crush all those who oppose you.....

Mike
Thumb Up

Inspired

Very nice. I will take a few of the them if they come as a physical device with a usb connector. Probably help my typing a little and certainly wont hurt it. I wonder how it would fair with the over 150wpm crowd.

'Cloned' CGI faces mimic people 'better than skilled actors'

Mike
Boffin

@max headroom

I was thinking something closer to "looker"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082677/

Google Oz coders crossbreed email with IM

Mike
Stop

BFD

looks like any standard portal app, where is the innovation??

Segway inventor builds shoe-controlled bionic arm

Mike
Joke

and for 6 million

you get an eye, two legs, an arm and a reinforced spine..

Hackintosh maker files for bankruptcy

Mike
Boffin

Apples IP

There really shouldn't be much of a problem getting around apples IP claims. All you need to do is hire an engineer old enough to remember how it all went together in the first place and specialized in the design of said systems. Remember when reverse engineering systems was something to be proud of putting on your resume instead of something that could potentially land you in legal trouble?? I do ;) [it was still ethically questionable, but I ignore those questions]. Ad this company (or any company really) could easily bail them self's out of whatever hole they are in by resurrecting some ideas that were not really practical 30 years ago, but are perfectly doable now..

If all you want is some MAC clone, let me select a team of hardware and software designers and I will pop one out for you in 6 months. [that's 6 month to prototype, not to production]

Could Sadville break the internet with nakedness?

Mike
Coat

@podcasting

Firstly I agree with you, this will have no effect outside SL.

To the rest of your comments,

SL is AIM with pictures + mp3 broadcasts with a request feature + on demand movies in an international setting (not to mention the voice chat feature which is basically a free international conference call). I know the international thing scares some people, strange thoughts and ideas from around the world, who in their right mind would want any part of that.

And I do the Tai-Chi with my online character. And podcasts are for pod people. And most of the time I am fixing dinner, or actually doing other things while in-world.

I really hate it when the press convinces the unwashed masses that SL is just a bunch of sedentary losers who have no life, when in fact in most cases the opposite is true.

When was the last time you took time out from your day to chat with a terminally ill cancer patient from half way around the world, just to brighten up their day, for me it was last week.

It usually takes most people (usually?, most?, now there are some qualifiers) about 3 months of regular online visits to get the hang of SL and actually enjoy it. Any less than that and you haven't really experienced it at all.....

Just saying, don't knock it if you haven't tried it.

Mines the one with righteous indignation stenciled across the back.

Mike
Go

@Sarah Bee

You should give it a try, stop by sometime, Fridays and Saturdays are best. Drinks are free, grab a cigar out of the humidor and kick back and listen to the tunes. The DJ will play pretty much anything you ask for. If that doesn't work for you maybe you could do some tai-chi, hang out at Pixelhenge, or test fly one of my X-302's. We even have a few people that will throw free hair and clothes at you so you don't come off as a total n00b.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Broo

Ask for Fmagick.

Mike
Coat

Real Life??

I have seen your so called "Real Life" and for the most part want to have nothing to do with it. And as to "what type of retard", most residents are retards of the 120-160 IQ variety as opposed to the 50-70 range required for "world of whore crack"

As far as the "Adult Content" ban goes, no one is happy with it, but hey, if you have lots of corporate cash you can bend SecondLife to your will. I have not seen any arguments from secondlife residents in favor of this action. But it really doesn't matter that much, just rename all your "interesting" stuff to something euphemistically harmless.

Mines the virtual one with "photo-realistic nudity" in the pocket.

Numonyx thanks Ovonyx for the memory

Mike

interesting and cool, but.....

I have seen this tech before, just not in a semiconductor. It is from the early days of HardDisk manufacturing. next progression would be to have each memory address be a tiny little oscillator whose frequency could be modified (MFMRAM anyone?).

Just remember you heard it here first, and from me. When you are ready to start manufacturing I will give you an address to send the royalty payments to.

Judge sends Blockbuster to court over Facebook Beacon Borking

Mike
Flame

I am with her on this one

while it has been awhile since I took a law class, from what I remember contracts are an agreement between parties, and one side cannot unilaterally modify the terms. To do so would void the contract, and invalidates the purpose of having a contract in the first place.

Personally, I am sick and tired of the contract bait and switch tactics employed by a number of companies, I hope they all get what they deserve.

US superputer nuke boffins puff mighty, arse-kicking GPU

Mike

Finally

something to play secondlife with. where is the link to the outlet store where we can pick one up?

Hefty 'battle strength' electro-laser breaks 100kW barrier

Mike
Coat

"ruggedising" the kit for field use

I plain language that means they had to get all the bits off the lab bench and put it in a box, and then make it work like it did in the perfect conditions of the lab.

I picture a mad scientist type waving his hands at the suited guys in dark glasses saying something like "yes, yes, take it away, the plans are over there, just leave me alone", while he wrings his hands and mutters "i have something much better in mind now that I know this works"

Mines the one with the sleeves that fasten in the back..

Card-sniffing trojans target Diebold ATM software

Mike
Coat

Wait for it

Soon someone will figure out how to use the mag stripe reader itself to insert the trojan. Watch for the guy with a stack of cards running them through in rapid fashion.

Mines the one with the usb to mag stripe converter in the pocket.

Drunken BOFH wreaks $1.2m in Oz damage

Mike
Go

How many times

Have YOU been tempted to do just such a thing, but either hadn't drank quite enough, or had already drank too much to pull it off. There have been a number of times I have considered doing just such a thing or worse, but thought better of it.

And I would venture a guess that the co-worker he was staying with and his fiancee were not one in the same, which would explain why she was his ex....

Sun's Schwartz worries over 'economy, not future'

Mike
Black Helicopters

Its all up to the media

and you are part of it. If you predict doom and gloom, whether you have any basis for it or not, the word will get around and surely you will get doom and gloom. Everyone will wait in their little hiding places and wait for the "no doom and gloom" message. What we need is more people to take the stance that sun has, which is yes, there are some bad times, but we predict good times right around the corner, best to get in on it now.

I am really getting tired of the naysayers in the media telling me about how bad it is, and about how things could get worse, and how this plan or that package has problems. Tell me, tell the people, tell everyone, that it may not be perfect, but you see things looking up, only then will people come out of hiding and actually do the things necessary to make it happen.

Predict me some freakin' happy times, the morons will eat it up, and I will have happy times.

Multi-sense VR helmet in development

Mike
Coat

wake me up

when they get some kit for the "lower brain" also.

BlackBerry advert sticks it to Apple

Mike
Go

Has it not occured to anyone

that neither of these products are really innovative or original. Palm has had a touch screen for years. Sure, only geeks will use them, but that doesn't change the fact. And I really don't think what you touch it with is really a big issue. finger works just as well as a stylus. Also, since I am not 12 I don't use SMS enough where typing with my thumbs is a big selling point.

The video however, is very cool, lets see it on mythbusters ;)

Spooks told to get used to encrypted VoIP

Mike
Black Helicopters

If you need encrypted communications..

http://www.speakfreely.org/

nothing beats VOIP software that can do pgp. so what if its old, so am I.

Canadian prof: Green IT is a waste of time

Mike
Black Helicopters

zero sum game

is the point I think he was trying to make. for example, a green(er) datacenter saves you money and has a smaller carbon footprint, but the developing and manufacturing of the "green" tech has a huge carbon footprint. Your new green datacenter is saving you vast amounts of cash, and as a side benefit you can slap the politically correct "green" label on your company, but the power companies now are getting less cash, doing less R&D, employing less workers, who now have to burn trees to stay warm.

zero sum game. we need to change how the game is played if we want to win.

War, Web 2.0 and the Fail Loop

Mike
Coat

types of loops

Seems that someone has forgotten that positive feedback loops cause oscillation. Negative feedback loops work well for control. You need to know that you have bad breath, not that you have good hair, you need to know not to attack that position, not that its ok, to attack these three.

mines the one with the PLL in the pocket.

UK 'bad' pics ban to stretch?

Mike
Joke

Does this apply to secondlife....

I mean if two consenting adults are engaged in some perverse carnal activity on secondlife they are both producing and watching animated pornography, who goes to the slammer and for which charge.

US Navy spends $12m on electric hypercannon

Mike
Happy

Raillguns are nice & all but...

why hasn't anyone built a nice coil gun up to the same specs. This is something I have always wanted to do. And it seems simple enough.

IT questions Obama's IT stimulus

Mike
Stop

Buy here first....

No matter what country you live in, you should have the policy of buy here first. If you can't get something in your own company/city/state/country, then you should buy where you can, but buy here first should be your policy, even if it costs a little more to do so. Its the devil you know.

Rogue sysadmin sues SF for $3m

Mike
Flame

From a sysadmin POV

I hope he wins. If my boss came to me with the "give me the master passwords to everything or you are fired" would mean to be that I was already up for termination, so my answer would be some variant of "sod off, they are in the secured location that you can't access, as per protocol, if you want the passwords, follow procedure to get them released, but you won't get them from me."

Here is the catch-22, if you don't comply it is direct insubordination which is usually a immediate termination offense, if you do give them up it is a violation of security policy, also an immediate termination offense. I believe he has taken the only path available and should win all he asks for and more. (since it is unlikely he will ever work in IT again.)

South Pole stilt-base builder to give lecture in Sadville

Mike
Alert

Sadville??

Please. I mean its ok that some online hack doesn't "get it" (or probably any, real or virtual). But I for one enjoy the time I spend in SL. I feel that the term"Sadville" is a misrepresentation, most people there are happy, and no more sad or abnormal that any standard Reg. reader. (which isn't really saying much is it..). I have met people from around the world, held virtual meetings, raised money for charity, and generally have a good time. And yes I own a flying penis gun, as well as a cow gun, a chicken gun, a watermelon launcher, etc. And the best part is that what started me in SecondLife was The Reg articles about how bad and evil it was. My wife and I spend most of our evenings together running our little playground in SL, and it certainly better than sitting in front of the idiot box all evening, Stop by the rolyat estate sometime, we have themed costume parties every Friday and Saturday night. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Broo

I guess I am going to have to have a come as your favorite Reg. Hack night ;)

US doc demands $1.5m for donated organ

Mike
Flame

I for one

Hope he wins and the sorry bitch has to give the kidney back. You save someones life, you own it.

Take a hammer to your hard drive, shrieks Which?

Mike
Stop

@ the dd fans

dd works great, however, first wipe with zero's, then with A55A then with FFFF, then with 5AA5, then with 0000, repeat until you are tired. Your data will be gone...

Send old Shuttles to Mars, says Scotty ashes prang man

Mike
Thumb Up

I'll go

Sign me up.

Apple wants to swipe your iPhone

Mike

Prior Art

Doesn't this already exist on the Palm Series of devices. Styli or fingers, it doesn't really matter, pointy motions equal actions have existed "forever" (or at least as long as the HP-50 touch screen terminal).

It's Sadville: The Movie!

Mike
Happy

@AC cliches

Actually its called "world of warcrack".

@ everyone else. I have been in SL for about two years now. I enjoy it. Stop by broo sometime, say you saw it on the reg. Maybe I will get out my penis gun.

As for a movie about the real people behind some of those avatars, some things I can do without knowing.... Next you'll be telling me about seeing clark kent in a phone booth changing clothes...

SonicWALL licensing snafu short-circuits protection

Mike
Flame

Just the begining

Prepare to see more and more of this as a result of the "you don't own it, you just buy the rights to use it" mentality. I wonder if a used car dealer could set up something similar, unlicensed driving, speeding tickets, all a violation of our TOS, please return the vehicle, "oh no, you are mistaken, you didnt BUY the car, just the right to use it, as WE see fit".

If you have to renew a key for something you already paid for, you are being screwed in a most impolite way.

IT contractor broke law in data raid on playground firm

Mike

I have done that

and similar. However, in a hostile data retrieval situation like that I would never actually turn over the data to anyone without a court order, because when you get into those situations you KNOW there is going to be court action. It's all about chain of custody and all that fun stuff. I would have also never changed anything, thats just dumb and asking for trouble.

Prof: 'Taser-proof vests put cops in danger'

Mike
Coat

Prior Art

Think Chainmail. Been around for hundreds of years, conducts electricity, considered protective clothing. Hardly an original idea.

Mines the one with the metalized mylar laminated to the inside.

Net-stock fraudster Moller offers flying saucer on eBay

Mike

1950's anyone?

I have seen this before. I think it was in a 1950's or early 60's popular mechanics mag. According to the test pilot it was highly unstable (and very loud). Maybe he has solved that little problem. Then there was also a "flying pogo stick" which was basically a jet engine mounted vertically with foot pegs a gyro and a handlebar. Now we are talking real fun. As far as I know they still have the classic thrust duration problem. (can't carry enough fuel to make it useful). Along with the feared "failure=death" safety issue.

But good luck to him anyhow....

Blockbuster: DVD to Blu-ray shift slower than VHS to DVD

Mike
Happy

Won't be buying

Until all of my DVD players go tits up. There is simply no reason to upgrade. My current television still has a few more years left in it, so no reason to upgrade to HD, therefore no reason to get HD compatible gear. So all things considered I am probably about 5 years out from buying BD, or HD.

Comcast reveals it is protocol agnostic

Mike
Flame

Jermey said it best

Bandwidth is a calculation based on amount of data over time. If you cap my total data usage in a month, then you have capped my bandwidth. You are not giving me what you advertised and I paid for. I can see this coming up and biting them in the ass. I am looking into switching to DSL just over principal. At least the phone company tells me how much they are going to screw me up front.

Firm threatens action against CCTV whistleblower

Mike
Pirate

Google cache

Thanks to google cache and a quick web search I can confirm that this "exploit" is so easy as to be labeled stupid. I really couldn't call this an exploit or hack as you simply have to put the correct URL into your browser and you have images. There is no security whatsoever, as far as I could tell.

where is the ROFLMAO icon.

Cambridge tech boss rips gov over innovation cash

Mike
Joke

don't forget

How well subsidies and "helpful programs" for home buyers has went in the US. Just look at the booming real estate market and the profits the companies who hold the mortgages on these properties are doing. How could you possibly be against something that successful ;)

Joke icon, because, well, you are kidding right??

Riverbed claims it will de-dupe primary storage

Mike
Joke

I have it

I have written all the 2 to the 64th data patterns to ROM, then I will use simple 64 bit pointers to that data, therefore all of your data can be represented in a single ROM, with only pointers to that data being stored, essentially all of your data will be stored in a single 2 to the 64th bit chunk or ROM with absolutely no duplication, therefore you can never loose any of your actual data. The pointers might be tricky to rebuild, so we will back them up to tape, and store them off site. Now where is that patent application.

NASA mulls nuclear Moon reactor

Mike
Boffin

A simpler solution

would be to put a polar generating station on the moon with radial "arms" spread out on both the light side and dark side. With the proper fluid (water with antifreeze?) the 400F temperature differential that is continuously available should be able to provide all the power you need. Of course you would need some kind of backup system for those pesky eclipses, but that is what batteries are for ;)

French storm the bastille over 'Sarkozy's Big Sister' database

Mike
Black Helicopters

@ US & secret databases

We in the US are confident in the fact that the CIA, NSA, or some other as of yet unknown agency has had such a database for years and is actively using it. Sure it would be illegal, if anyone ever found out about it. Our government will disappear you, your family , all of your friends, and remove all trace of you, if they so desire. Think KGB on steroids. Mafia Hit, drive by shooting, drug overdose, horrible auto accident, it all looks good in the papers and you are gone. and I am sure its just the tip of the iceberg. The things you see are just distractions so you will look away from what they are actually doing.

Rogue SF sysadmin may cost city over $1m

Mike
Flame

The Admin is in the right

First, if you fire me, I no longer am obliged to tell you anything, you should have thought to ask before you decided to fire me.

Second, If I am still working for you, it is my responsibility to keep others from doing something stupid, therefore I cannot give out the password, lest you do something stupid, and I get fired for letting you have the password.

Finally, in situations like this you should always have two admins, in case something "bad" happens to one of them.

French firm intros remix-friendly music format

Mike
Flame

@vhs/betamax

actually what the vhs/betamax thing taught us is that if you have two competing formats, the vastly superior one can still lose out if you don't license the rights to use it. The standard willing to whore itself to the world for free will win the market share and thus become the only standard the consumers are aware of.

The Sony Beta format is still in wide use, by professionals, not consumers.

Prototype orbital seaplane in Texan blimp-base blast

Mike
Black Helicopters

@dervheid

Yes we do in fact have such an agency.

http://www.atf.gov/

All the fun in one place ;)

NASA chief blasts US space policy in leaked email

Mike
Flame

If it were up to me....

I would give NASA the entirety of the defense department budget. If war is so profitable it should be able to pay for itself...

Employee has no privacy on company computers, US court rules

Mike
Linux

I have no expectation of privacy, however...

I also don't believe that there is anyone at my company that could get into my workstation without my knowledge and consent. They can re-image the machine, but I am never giving away my pgp keys or pass phrase ;)

88% of IT admins would steal data if fired

Mike
Flame

@mark

Greets Mark,

We may have met a few years ago at a SANS conference. You have an interesting suite of products. And I would like to say to you and all the other posters that you stats are probably correct. I have never left a company empty handed, whether that be a key for a spendy piece of software, or some clever bit of scripting I wrote, and don't want to have to re-invent elsewhere. That in of itself would put me on your list. However, I am a skilled unix admin and security professional, it is my job to see that the things I can do to your company can't be done by others. I consider all of an employers systems to be MY systems for the duration of my employment, and I treat them as such [properly operating and secured, etc]. All of my employers consider me to be trustworthy, and I have never given them cause to think otherwise, but I am a sysadmin and not to be trifled with, for thou art crunch and taste good with catsup ;)

I would have no problems with crushing those who deserve it. Not AC. I have nothing to fear.

Ubuntu documentation in shreds

Mike
Stop

Documentation truths

1) Good code is self documenting.

2) Everyone believes they write good code.

3) You don't want to put your name to bad code by documenting it.

Therefore no code gets documentation. Also this has nothing to do with being paid, unless you are being paid specifically to write documentation. I get paid pretty well and haven't written more than 10 pages of documentation in the last 20 years. (see #1 & #3).

Tagging this as an open source problem is just lame. This is an industry wide problem, and only someone who is owned by their employer wouldn't know that.

Now get back to work you still have 20 lines of code and 10 pages of documentation to finish before the end of the day, and stop complaining, after all it's an honor for you to work here, you should be paying us.

Red Hat hack prompts critical OpenSSH update

Mike
Linux

SLACKWARE

Is for secure servers. You use redhat if you feel you may need to sue someone in the future, or are just too lazy to manage your upgrades.

Flame on fanboys..

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