Posts by frank ly
2124 posts • joined Wednesday 10th June 2009 09:17 GMT
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Posted in US energy-weapon project going well
Economics of Production
"..the Reg's apparently large readership of evil billionaires may have to wait a while."
These things can only get cheaper as time goes by so evil millionaires will be able to buy them and will drive up demand. After that, mass production will arrive and they will become commodity items. It's a veritable virtuous circle of villainy.
Really NSFW
Never mind the coxyx; that woman doesn't have any clothes on! (Shoes don't count.)
Posted in Middle-aged sex is crap: Official
you got me
I tried typing 'sudo scientific nonsense' on a Linux command line and my computer froze up! What was that about?
@ Chris W re. Slight Flaw
"Men don't go in florists"
You have misunderstood what happened here.
This was men who had been placed in a florists and then had the door locked on them.
If romantic music was playing, it reduced their ability to pick locks, break down doors or throw heavy objects through the windows. It is thought to affect the decision making processes as well as motor skills.
Posted in A Rumba with a Roomba
I am not alone!
"... You know how a hard disk defragmenter, scurrying around its sectors in a neat graphical display, is the most hypnotically fascinating thing to watch? Of course you do. .."
I thought I was the only one who did that and have been ashamed to tell anyone about it. I feel so much better now it's out in the open.
Must Try Harder
"..We are at present unable to locate the original press release referenced by Dr Akdeniz."
Have you tried Googling for it?
Entertainment
"What we discovered is that people were not bothered by [an advertisement]. Part of it I think our belief is you're used to it. You're used to seeing things with ads."
You have to laugh. It's that or cry.
Yeah, Right
"... Subscriptions are particularly cool from the publisher's perspective because you've got the name and address of the purchaser and the beginnings of a relationship. ..."
The beginnings of a spam-storm is more like it. Then, if you were stupid enough to give them your phone number........ :(
What offences?
"The operation went well and we are now looking at the evidence to see what offences have been committed."
I thought they knew what offences were being committed. Isn't that why they arrested the two guys?
Realism?
Does it make the 'whoom-whoom' sound? After you've blinded your opponent, the sound will be the only sporting chance they have.
Posted in Lightning bolt smites 60ft Jesus statue
Thank You
" ... The flameout has inevitably prompted wailing and gnashing of teeth as locals ponder why a bolt of electricity would choose to light on a six-storey high structure with a steel skeleton standing in a predominantly flat area.
“I think it’s a sign of the end of the world,” Paul Wright, told the Dayton Daily News “If lightning is going to strike God, then there’s no hope.” ... "
Oh how I laughed at that. (Does this mean I'm cruel and cynical?)
Posted in Easy-peasy science GCSEs binned
Stuck In The Past
"It's unclear if enough messing around with frogs, Van de Graaff generators, radioactive bits and bobs, and Bunsen burner fights are included in the syllabuses."
It's bad enough that they mess around so much in class, but why oh why do they have to involve old prog rock bands? Is this relevant to the modern music scene and what has it got to do with science?
Posted in Microsoft throws Office 2010 at shoppers
Example please
To set your comment in context, can you give an example (or two) of how Open Office doesn't 'cut it', compared to Microsoft Office, in a real world, common, normal, office-y type of environment?
(Please don't say 'pivot tables' or 'Exchange integration', those are big, bright, known things).
My experience of office-y type work is that the biggest problem is the people, those who don't follow procedures, can't communicate properly, etc. The software used to create a report or make a pretty graph in a spreadsheet is usually low on the list of things that need to be improved.
Posted in God particles breeding like bosons
@TeeCee...some others as well for you
A rarity of Higgs bosons. Furthermore.....a bosom of bosons, a muff of muons, a quim of quarks., a fanny of fermions, a knob of neutrinos, a fart of photons.
I'm in a funny mood right now.
Posted in Microsoft throws Office 2010 at shoppers
Funny
I just dipped a toe in the water with Office Web Apps. I have Office 2000 installed on my laptop and use Firefox. I had to enable half a dozen things in NoScript and Request Policy to get everything going. I got in via my Hotmail account, that I keep going for old times sake.
Office-Excel Web Apps will not perform copy-paste of cell values between itself and the installed Office-Excel 2000 application. (I think you may need Office 2003 or later to support this.)
Google Docs WILL perform copy-paste of cell values between itself and installed Office 2000, lol.
I tried to copy-paste an Excel chart to Google Docs but that failed and was too much to hope for of course.
So, there is better cross-use compatibility between Google Docs and Excel 2000, than between Microsoft Office Web Apps and Excel 2000.
Posted in Physical vs virtual: What's your poison?
@Ken 16
Are you a pointy-haired boss? I suspect not. Re-read the article :)
What Trevor didn't say is that before he goes through the analogy with them, he says "Imagine you are the captain of a luxury cruise liner (or powerful warship, etc, as appropriate to their personality). Thus, he appeals to their vanity, power lust, sense of self-importance and desire for more control.
Posted in New York Times bans 'tweet'
@AC 09:57
But what you're implying is that newspaper reporters, journalists and random website bloggers are the 'authority' on correct construction of sentences.
And there are many well established 'authorities' on this matter, with much better academic reputations. So I'd suggest a different justification.
@ Bruno
Woohoo! Thank you Bruno, I'll check it out. :)
Posted in New York Times bans 'tweet'
Too hasty there
> >Sentences slapped together wrongly, misspellings,..... <
This is fine actually because he is giving a list of 'things' or 'actions'. To rewrite it according to your interpretation, it would be better as:
"Sentences slapped together wrongly and misspellt, horrible grammar......"
or "Sentences slapped together wrongly, misspellt; horrible grammar....."
I'm not sure why you replaced 'horrible' with 'terrible', since he is stating HIS feelings about the grammar and only he can know the horror/terror that he feels. I think it's unlikely that anyone would feel terror at all this but I can imagine the horror it would induce.
Toolbars?
Can you create a toolbar and dock it on the left/top/right edge of the screen, then have it pop out when the cursor moves to that edge? Can you overlap toobars and slide them over each other?
I like to have an empty desktop, except for the Recycle bin, which I can't get rid of.
Win7-beta didn't do that last year and I assume that Win7 doesn't. I'm staying with XP until I can be sure that whatever replaces it can do user configured toolbars. (They're great !!)
Does it have fibre?
"You can get your iPad with regulation silver catsuit and protein-pill dinner on the other side of the time portal."
Maybe, but what about the fibre? Nobody thinks about that but it's vitally important. Put squeamishness aside and consider the importance of fibre.
Posted in Samsung NB30 touchscreen durable netbook
re. how many
This problem was nothing to do with any shortcomings of hardware manufacturers. It was caused by Ubuntu refusing to install a hardware driver that it decided was not needed. The operating system made an 'executive decision' that put the user at a disadvantage.
Over the past two years, I have made 4 attempts to install Ubuntu or Debian on my desktop or my laptop computer. Each time, something has gone wrong. The first time, it refused to load because it could not find the wireless card driver (it said); I wasn't even using WiFi at the time. The second time, it identified both my hard drives and asked where to install. I told it which one, then it formatted both of them and refused to install. When I tried Debian, it went through the installation process then stopped with an error message claiming that the CPU temperature was some ridiculous value then it shutdown. The last time I tried to install Ubuntu, it fouled up again and I couldn't be bothered to figure it out.
My conclusion:- I'm not touching that pile of rubbish again.
When I downloaded the Win-7 beta last year, it installed smoothly and quietly with no fuss at all, on my six year old laptop, then found all my other devices on the network.
I'd love to use Linux, I really would, but it won't let me and as far as I'm concerned it's not good enough yet. Maybe they will have fixed it in another two years.
Let's Escalate....
My flock of trained hawks will rip your pigeons to shreds if they come into the city.
In an ordinary day....
"The Navy requested that anyone finding one of the torpedo-like droids should call the commander of the US Second Fleet urgently...."
Who is likely to find one of these AWOL beasts? If they have any intelligence at all, they'll hide out in an underwater cave system, or a classic volcano lair. The home/ship/office numbers of the commander of the US Second Fleet should have been published along with this request, if they're serious about this.
I don't understand
When I go for a cycle ride, I have a good idea where I'm going. When I get back, I know where I've been. Why would I want to record this and why would I want to share the information with anybody?
Big Bullshitter's Bumper Book.......
That would make a great Christmas gift. It could have quotes from real politicos and business press releases as well as made up stuff, organised by categories of some kind.
Let's see if anyone manages to publish one in time. Note: Just because you (seem to have) thought of it first, that doesn't mean you have any rights to the title.
P.S I want to know who's pulling Conroy's strings. There is no way that idiot could have figured out any technical stuff himself.
Or Something Like That
Those wont to say won't may be in want.
Posted in Steve Jobs unveils iPhone 4
re. Not a pretty image
This is just a fancy way of saying that the sun shines out of the iPhone's backside?
re. Frankly Dear
Neither do I Colin sweetie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamaterial
See how easy enlightenment can be?
Meta-Analysis
Is there a site anywhere that reviews and analyses dating sites? The reason I ask is that I want to study and check the validity of your comments; maybe even do some follow-on field studies, etc.
Not sharp enough...
Yes, but I mis-spelled 'Costa-Rican', in a post with a pedant icon. Now that IS ironic.
@Charlie Clark
I'm not sure if the article is in fact ironic. It is certainly comic, as Lewis often is. In this article he seems to employ classical techniques of irony but for some reason, it doesn't strike me as being 'ironic'. I'll get another cafetiere brewed mug of Cost-Rican down my throat and try reading it again.
Friendly Fail
"extremely confident in the safety and security of the GPS system from enemy attack."
....but not from friendly fail.
Posted in Apple opens doors to vanity publishers
Pub it
I 'read' it as "pub it", meaning do it in the pub, with a drink or two, or three. I do my best thinking in the pub but haven't tried taking my netbook in for a writing session yet.
There is a connection
James Bond did have some problems with Thrush after his dalliance with the Russian agent Candida Albicans,in a hotel bedroom, so the reference was relevant. After that, he would never order spotted dick for dessert.
Posted in Honda CR-Z sporty hybrid e-car
Could be done better?
"...move to overtake while in Economy you're left wondering where all the power has gone.."
Why don't they have some kind of throttle demand-rate sensor so the power can be pushed up (maybe also turning off the air-con and screen heaters, if any) for a short time? I'm thinking along the lines of a throttle/brake pedal rate sensing system that varies the 'mode' according to how the driver operates them....
Maybe the mode takes a significant time to change........?
In my ten year old, 2 litre petrol engine car, I can go to economy mode by being slow and gentle with the throttle and brakes, then go to 'sports' mode with a flick of my right foot :)
Posted in Ye olde London comes to the iPhone
A Slice Of History
In the lower right corner of the photo, is that a smartly dressed Sarah Bee handing out an early broadsheet edition of El Reg, with details of the latest developments in tetrode valve technology?
Does she still have the hat?
Multi-tab-tasking
Have you tried running Facebook in a different tab, then you can copy/paste your 'recommendation' from the iPlayer screen to the Facebook (or similar) IM box? That way, you can also have a group chat running commentary on the content of the tv programme you are all watching.
Maybe the Web2.0 crowd can't handle more than function at a time though.
Nature Documentaries
"..American Balled Eagle.."
I think I remember that one. Did it push a little wheelbarrow in front of itself?
Please contact me to negotiate proofreading fees
> In legalese, the license says: "If You or your agent or exclusive ... etc. <
I've noticed that there's a comma missing in that statement. I won't say where it is unless I can get a good price for my work in spotting this.
I'll help anyone, gladly and for nothing; but not lawyers.
Awwwww, come on!
"...Keith discovered a simple way to bypass the security token: by omitting it altogether, Facebook servers no longer attempted to validate browsers."
Don't they have any kind of internal teams who think up ways of defeating security? They ought to.
Posted in Wave gravy splashes onto Google Apps
Oh Good Grief
I just 'logged in' to Wave using my gmail identity. My 'Inbox' was empty; it seems you need to actively merge Wave with gmail, or something......shrugs.
I tried the settings option; here is what it said:
>Just bear with us and we'll update you when there's something to look at.<
>Happy waving!<
>Dr. Wave <
I have a bad feeling about this.
NAS is great, but
Well, a NAS is fine until your house burns down. Then, even your independent backup drive wouldn't be much use to you (unless it's stored 'off-site'). It all depends on how important and irreplaceable you consider your data to be.
I remember
Gimme money, that's what I want.......
So many lessons learned (more to come)
How the heck does a contract security guard get access to ANY client site computer systems?
Ah, Politicians...
All you have to do is read his comments to realise that he doesn't have a clue.
