* Posts by frank ly

6077 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Jun 2009

Last living NEANDERTHALS discovered in JERSEY – boffins

frank ly

@Charles Manning Re: And what did that interbreeding give us?

It's nothing to do with pollen. What happens is .... well ....... Consider the birds and the bees; ..... oh..., you did.

Japanese pussies slurp 'meow meow' sex wine

frank ly

Re: So basically what you're saying is...

No no, snoo snoo make boo hoo after woo woo.

iPhone 5S autopsy shows WHY it can't tell which end is up – dev

frank ly

.. Apple's latest uber-phone shifts gravity by as much as five degrees ...

That is some serious technology!

Torrent site isoHunt to close

frank ly
Thumb Up

Re: Serves him/them right!

We need a new word: cynicasm

Rorschach test suggested as CAPTCHA replacement

frank ly

Re: It's 'naturally' biased

Imagine dancing the tango, late at night, in Paris. I'll stand back while you take it from there.

frank ly

It's 'naturally' biased

Given that they all have mirror symmetry about the vertical centre, as do humans and our faces, and since human eyes/brains are very good at finding and recognising faces; it's to be expected that people will 'see' clowns and other anthropomorphic things. Maybe a few butterfiles as well.

Leaky security could scuttle global ship-tracking system

frank ly

GPS spoofing

If you wanted to cause a ship to alter course, wouldn't it be easier to spoof local GPS signals? This would have to be done slowly and carefully in a sneaky way, which is quite possible.

I wonder when the AIS system was designed and its methods and protocols decided on. If it was some years ago, then the 'modern' security concerns of terrorism and piracy would have been hardly considered if at all.

I also wonder if the mandatory AIS system has IP that is owned and licensed by a cosy cartel that keeps on milking its cash cow and has no interest in spending money to make it better. After all, why did it need Trend Micro to figure all this out and do experiments and investigations.

Screw Internet-of-Things: Boffins build Internet-of-Sound UNDERWATER

frank ly

@Gordon 10

See where he typed the word 'tcpip'. That is a dolphin click-sound word. He slipped up there and revealed his true nature.

Dead Steve Jobs' Apple donut SPACESHIP HQ gets permission to land

frank ly

Re: One Ring to Rule Them (and in the darkness bind them)

I've had a very close look at the plans and designs for this building. If you zoom in really close, you'll see that everything is made from of millions of small cubes, all of idential size and form factor. It's pure genius! It means that everything can be mass produced with slight tweaks and configuration at the on-site assembly stage. Spare parts stocking will be simplified because of that too.

NHS preps spammy mailshots advertising 'BIGGEST medical data grab in HISTORY'

frank ly

I'll keep an eye on my junk mail from now on

I have two comparatively mild but chronic diseases, one of which requires daily medication. I'll let El Reg know if I start to get any targeted mail that seems to imply any knowledge of my medical condition. It would be useful if other commentards in a similar situation could do this.

All cool kids' phones run ALTERNATIVE alternative custom Android ROM

frank ly

@ukgnome Re: This is why I am leaving Android

There will be more joy in Cupertino over one fandroid who repents than over ninety-nine fanbois who need no repentance. Blessed are the fruity ones.

Loathed wiggly-word CAPTCHAs morph into 'fun' click-'n'-drag games

frank ly

Re: Ugg, grocer's apostrophe in that sample

I think it should be grocers' apostrophe, because there are many who do it.

frank ly

I always read it as 'Clit Bang'

Is it my eyes?

Slip your SIM into a plastic sheath, WIPE international call charges

frank ly

Re: Spelling?!?!

I think it's related to the toll rate for international calls.

Ireland revisits tax laws to cook Apple

frank ly

Re: The USA should do with companies what it does with people

" ...the hard working middle class ..."

You should try being working class. That really is hard work.

Divorcing ICANN and the US won't break the 'net nor stop the spooks

frank ly

Re: Can you see where this is going?

"... standard internet community citizens ...."

Isn't that like asking road users what the speed limits and lane markings should be? Given that there are problems with criminal use of the internet and that commercial concerns have put massive amounts of their owm money into the internet; then how could government and commercial firms be excluded on any reasonable grounds?

Kids hooked up with free Office subs at Microsoft-addicted schools

frank ly

I'm still using Office 2000

It doesn't need activation over the internet and it runs in WINE. Am I missing out on anything?

Oz bookshop to deliver by drone

frank ly

Re: What could go wrong?

I recognise sarcasm when I see it (as well as many other things). Do they have a map of every lamp post and flagpole and overhead cable? Will students never run behind a newly installed crane (or whatever) so they can get a YouTube worthy video of a drone fragmenting itself? Will students order a book and then drive around in cars or on bikes for the fun of seeing the drone trying to keep up with them? I know I would, but maybe that's just me.

frank ly

What could go wrong?

The hexacopter drone homes in on the customer's location based on the customer phone's GPS (either continous or as recorded at the time of the order). Does the hexacopter control centre know about power pylons, telephone poles, high buildings, etc? Does it know how to open doors, etc? This could be the start of some hilarious You Tube videos.

Brazil whacks PRISM with secure email plan

frank ly

It took three tweets and still didn't say much

She should use a proper news and notices website, with an RSS feed.

Leaping SpaceX GRASSHOPPER ROCKET jumps 2,500ft, lands safely

frank ly

re. the observing video camera

I just watched the video (I had to disable AdBlock .....shudders). Is that one of the arms of a quadracopter, or similar remote controlled device, that you can see towards the peak of the climb? I suppose it would be cheaper than using a helicopter.

frank ly
Happy

Re: *scratching head*

I think there's some nominative determinism at work in your comment. (It's a good question too.)

Boffins build BEELLION-YEAR storage medium

frank ly

A small detail is missing

What is the form of the data storage? The article mentions light and electron beams passing through the protective coating. Is it some energy induced phase change of the tungsten structure? Is the data carved onto the tungsten surface and then the protective coating applied afterwards? Because of the picture used in the title, I'll assume that its carvings on the surface, followed by a protective coating.

Web.com DNS hijack: How hacktivists went on a mass web joyride spree

frank ly

In another area of life

If my bank received a fax , with my name at the bottom, asking to transfer a large amount of money to a certain Nigerian bank account, I wonder what they'd do.

Brazil's anti-NSA prez urged to SNATCH keys to the internet from America

frank ly

Equal footing with Uncle Sam

If the Brazilian government had the same amount of money to spend as the US government, and the same internal expertise at running a long term, major technology project; they too would have a super-duper secret internet spying system. This argument applies to every government in the world and many governments would be a lot better at keeping things secret than the US seems to be.

Streaming TV Aereo's enemies lob sueball into Supreme Court

frank ly

This could get interesting

I noticed the statement at the bottom of the page stating that a valid UK TV licence is required to watch this service. I wonder if the UK TV Licensing 'enforcers' will demand customer's IP addresses to track them down and take action against them if they are not recorded as having a valid licence.

Who here needs to explain things to ELEPHANTS?

frank ly

Pointer dogs?

Are pointer dogs 'natural pointers' or do they have to be trained to do it? If you consider a dog's/wolf's front legs, they could use them for pointing quite easily, if they really wanted to.

Do-it-yourself Dropbox: Western Digital's My Cloud 2TB NAS box

frank ly

I'm a cheapskate

I got an old NSLU2 on e-bay for 15 pounds, plugged a 16GB USB stick into it, connected it to my router then set up an FTP user account on it. I use an FTP transfer app on my Android phone to send batches of photos home, or use Filezilla on a PC for anything else. It's all solid state and has been working continuously for 4 years now. Apart from one glitch when Virgin Media fell over then gave me a new IP address when they recovered, it's been perfect for my needs.

There may be some people out there who really need remote access to a TB or more of storage, but I can't imagine there are many.

Blighty's National Crime Agency nabs first crook ...for £750k cyberscam

frank ly

unpaid “NCA specials”

I'd love to have that job; how do I apply? Do I get to wear the cool NCA jacket and baseball cap while I'm off-duty? My friends and family all tell me that I'm 'special'.

Boffins spot LONE PLANET roaming interstellar void

frank ly

Re: Daleks

A better idea would be to hide somewhere upstairs. At least that was the old advice, I'm not sure if it's the case anymore.

London plod plonks, er, pull request on EasyDNS

frank ly

A few details

London (UK) has two police forces. The Metropolitan Police (The Met) that is responsible for most of London and the City of London Police (CoLP) which is an older and separate force that is responsible for the ancient 'square mile' centre of London. I'm wondering which police force it is.

The CoLP have close contacts with wealthy and infuential organisations that have headquarters and offices in the centre of London and have specialist fraud and economic crime units that work closely with major organisations.

If it is the CoLP, I'm sure they would not be influenced by any large dinners or invitations to international conferences from entertainment industry executives. Throughout their history, the CoLP have never been associated with corruption or dubious practices. The Met have a similar history of absolute probity, as everybody knows.

NSA data centre launch delayed as power surges 'melt metal, zap racks'

frank ly

They are preparing for something big

No one would have believed in the early years of the twenty-first century that the internet was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences more powereful than ours and yet even more devious, paranoid and self-serving than our own; that as people busied themselves with internet shopping and watching cat videos, they were being scrutinised and studied and classified according to percieved threat level.

Brit boson boffin Higgs bags Nobel with eponymous deiton

frank ly

I prefer 'Bose-on!' (I do obscure physics jokes, everyone needs a hobby.)

Brew me up, bro: 11-year-old plans to make BEER IN SPACE

frank ly

Re: Where exactly is he too young to drink?

I thought that the law applies to the retail sale of beer with the intended final recipient being an 'underage person'. Surely he can brew his own beer and drink it if he wants to? It's a basic freedom and human right, damn it!

New Terminator-style 'bots can self-assemble, leap, climb and SWARM

frank ly

I've just got back from a local industrial estate

I've bought a large amount of iron filings and steel swarf, to spread around the boundary of my property.

Tech specs wreck: Details of Google's Nexus 5 smartphone leaked over internet

frank ly

Re: The sad thing is..

Try NoLED. It puts notification symbols on your screen that tell you what kind of notification it is (e.g. e-mail arriving for a particular account, txt message, etc). These are customisable for colour and symbol set. You can set it to supress the screen display if the case cover is closed and set 'quiet times'.

Police constable 1337 stunned by Lego lookalike

frank ly
Happy

re. "...perhaps coincidentally, is a PCSO ..."

No, that's the laughing hand of fate.

(Thank you for the sub-heading!)

Dutch oven overcooked in World Solar Challenge

frank ly

Re: How bizarre!

I assume that 'racing' on public roads requires that rule since they haven't been formally closed and isolated from public traffic. Does anyone know if that is the case? I wonder why they didn't have a speed limiter as part of the control system.

TWELFTH-CENTURY TARDIS turns up in Ethiopia

frank ly

Re: Cool!

Apart from the 'hobbyist' production values of the early episodes, something that I always notice is that the body language and vocal delivery of the actors was notable 'stagey', probably because the actors had more experience of theatre productions than television. They were used to delivering a performance that had to satisfy the audience on the back row. Also, they probably had it in mind that it was 'only children's entertainment'.

Nowadays it's cool to be a guest actor on Doctor Who and the agents are making discrete phone calls to let the BBC know that their clients would be very interested.

Two years after Steve Jobs' death, how's that new CEO working out?

frank ly
Happy

Re: Frothing...

I knew it - it IS a religion!

The DARK HEART of the Twitter IPO: FAKE USERS

frank ly

"... we apply significant judgement ...."

It would be better if they applied sensible and honest judgement.

NSA justifies hacking world's digital communications

frank ly

I've started making my own shotguns for the same reason. I'm learning a lot about the strength of materials and all sorts of useful stuff.

Down with Unicode! Why 16 bits per character is a right pain in the ASCII

frank ly
Happy

@Verity

Thank you for using 'one' as a pronoun. One doesn't get to see it often nowadays, if at all.

Snowden's email provider gave crypto keys to FBI – on paper printouts

frank ly

"Just short of a criminal act"

So, it wasn't criminal act, was it? He closed down his organisation so that they couldn't force him to work for them as their secret snitch-bitch. The 'authorities' would love to make that illegal and are probably working on secret laws to give them that power.

'The land of the free'. Where is that place?

Samsung denies benchmark cheating, despite evidence

frank ly
Happy

@Steven Raith

So, at the weekend it reall will be a crap day. Enjoy!

Atomic clocks come to your wrist

frank ly

Re: Even if you needed that accuracy...

My first questioning thought was about the analogue display, but that is about resolution of the output, not accuracy. The point of the atomic clock is the long term accuracy. Having said that, I still think it's silly.

Steve Jobs AIRBRUSHED from history by APPLE months before his death

frank ly

It looks like ....

... the first stage of an evil plan to capture the heart/soul of a TARDIS.

GCHQ's CESG CCP 4 UK GOV IT BFFs? LOL RTFA INFOSEC VIPs ASAP

frank ly

Just wondering .....

If I manage to forge a GCHQ IT security competence certificate (and associated records), does it automatically become valid because I've demonstrated competence in IT security?

The LSD guru, the 1980s pop-star and video games to reprogram your brain

frank ly

re. persian rugs

I'd like to see a link for this. Was one intended?

French data cops to Google: RIGHT, you had your chance. PUNISHMENT time

frank ly

Re: Are they splitting hairs?

" ... would have to be funded by subscription fees ...."

I wonder if anyone has done some kind of usage analysis of how people use Google services, what convenience and benefit the services give to the user and how much those services are actually worth to the average user. (Note: Watching cat videos does not have a high, if any, value to a sane user, no matter how much it costs to host the videos or deliver them.)

My use of free online newspapers means that I save enough money every month to pay for my cable internet connection, an easily calculated benefit. What does Google do for me (or Josephine Average) and how much _should_ I/we be willing to pay for it?