* Posts by Annihilator

3779 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Jun 2009

It’s official: Google shrinks the world!

Annihilator
Boffin

Re: Errmmm...

"Maybe I'm missing something obvious but if the escape velocity has increased 1,000 fold along with the gravity, how exactly has the radius shrunk?"

Because escape velocity is calculated using both the mass and the radius of the earth, specifically it's sqrt(2GM/r). So to achieve the thousand fold increase, you can either keep the mass or radius constant and change the other by a factor of 1,000,000 (Mass up by this value, or radius down by this value), which if you read the rest of the article, they do both these options.

Or you can play and get a variety of options. You could put mass up by 1,000 and radius down by 1,000 and achieve the same result. Or any other factors of 1,000,000 (m up by 2, radius down by 500,000

Mystery martian object is relic of (our) civilisation

Annihilator
Facepalm

If that was the first and only picture they'd taken with that camera, then sure. But it's not.

Ballmer aims chair at Apple after Windows package miss

Annihilator
Facepalm

Rather pointless comparison, but no, I don't think that article asked for your sympathy anywhere. Merely reported on the remuneration packages of the top brass at an IT company, generally seen as a view of how well or badly a company is doing currently.

SpaceX Falcon 9 flameout leaves commercial satellite in wrong orbit

Annihilator

Re: "a satellite belonging to sat-tracking firm Orbcomm"

"But who tracks the trackers?"

"I dunno, coastguard?" - Homer J Simpson

Annihilator
Boffin

Re: Frequent flyer

Agreed - suspect Orbcomm would have known the risk parameters when they signed up to be an additional customer on that flight. From reading the article it appears it technically could have placed the sat in orbit but due to ISS constraints it wasn't allowed, Orbcomm would have known that this sort of variance was possible.

Rover spots 'possibly artificial' MYSTERY SHINY OBJECT on Mars

Annihilator
Thumb Up

Re: Look, Sir droids!

Look! A penny!

SpaceX confirms Falcon rocket suffered engine flame-out

Annihilator
Boffin

Re: Though

More specifically, it's nine times more likely to suffer *an* engine failure (and even then, not quite), but certainly not nine times more likely to fail entirely.

Astronomers tell story set a LONG time ago in a galaxy far, FAR away

Annihilator
Boffin

Re: Space, and the enormity of it

"It is doubtful that 'we' are in the centre of the universe (contrary to many religious credos) but it is remotely possible. So yes, space is mind boggling big, probably even bigger!"

As I understood it, we *are* in the centre, but so is everything else, only because to have a centre, you need to define an edge.

Easiest way to consider it is to think of yourself on the surface of the earth - are you in the middle of its surface? Is anyone?

Mars rover Curiosity gets ready to blast its first rock

Annihilator
Headmaster

Re: Language, language!

Raises an interesting point, you would say "trundled across the Earth for six days", so why not "the Mars"? I reckon that technically it's correct - though doesn't scan easily... yet

Annihilator
Pint

Just be relieved they haven't started Instagramming the pictures...

Google to axe IE 8 support, cuts off Windows XP lifeline

Annihilator
FAIL

Re: Confusing..

re: the "bullshit" a/c comment. I didn't say you couldn't uninstall IE8, just that it was a convoluted process:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950719

Annihilator
Facepalm

Confusing..

I recall a time when MS claimed that IE was embedded so deeply into XP that it was intrinsically linked with the OS. As I understand it, even today just having IE installed can leave the OS open to intrusion regardless of whether you use a different browser.

To remedy, just try and uninstall IE8 from an XP installation. Note that you'll have to uninstall SP3 first, then remove IE8, then reinstall SP3. Easy!

Raspberry Pi patch adds warranty-safe overclocking

Annihilator
Meh

Buy it from another supplier then - mine took a week in the giddy days of the month-long waiting lists. Granted it's now sitting here on a desk with nothing to do yet...

Annihilator
Thumb Down

Re: Why?

OK, I'll bite. Overclocking works because the manufacturer of the chip has tested it for the highest guaranteed clock. They err massively on the side of caution in the majority of the times, and so there is always room for overhead. The tolerances involved in the manufacturing process means there is always a safe overhead (they won't build a chip that *just* operates inside the clock frequency, as a minor glitch could make it go wrong) so it's a case of figuring out where that overhead reaches you. It's trivial to find too, run soak tests until it goes wrong. Pretty much every CPU will find 10% margin and that's without tweaking voltage levels.

Where are you finding a faster system than a Pi in that price range and that form factor then?

NASA working on faster-than-light drive capable of WARP TEN

Annihilator

A hologram of your former crewmate, a creature who evolved from the ship's cat, some Scutters and a talking toaster.

Freeview kit to require retune tomorrow

Annihilator
Meh

Re: Again and again and again

I did see the article and think "oh, it's Wednesday, must be re-tune time..."

iPhone 5 has 'laser keyboard, holographic images'

Annihilator
Facepalm

Re: If true...

Erm, if true, you'd think they'd have mentioned it in the keynote.

iPhone 5 tops benchmark chart

Annihilator
Boffin

Or, cynically...

Jelly Bean was tuned towards these benchmarks? Hardly unheard of in the computing industry.

Apple 'hasn't really run out of iPhone 5s AT ALL'

Annihilator
Happy

"So much to do at Cartmanland, but you... can't... come (especially you, Stan and Kyle)"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0705906/

Apple's first batch of iPhone 5 preorders sold out in an hour

Annihilator
Paris Hilton

Re: Every time

"In engineering vise iPhones have been just piece of crap, except on UI design and in mechanical terms"

Erm, what other engineering is relevant to a phone exactly?...

Annihilator
Thumb Down

Re: Every time

"But EVERY TIME they release and iphone it happens and you would have thought they would have learnt by now how many they need to produce."

Do you understand supply chains? It's not in Apple's interest to make enough to satisfy day-one demand, they'd have to have started manufacturing even earlier than they did, and have them sitting in an even bigger warehouse. Rule one of retail, never carry too much stock. Especially when they know 99% of their customers will probably wait.

iPhone 5: UK pay-monthly tariffs compared

Annihilator
Go

Re: Well that settles it...

"I just realised.. Apple have me over a barrel with iTunes. I'm pretty sure all my music purchased through iTunes is DRM, someone please (hopefully) do feel free to correct me!"

Consider yourself corrected :-) Hasn't been DRMed for a while, try playing a track in a media player of your choice to check.

Annihilator
Coat

Re: Blimey

You can shave about £100 off the base iP5 for a Galaxy S3. Probably proportional to the R&D costs Samsung saved by just borrowing Apple's... ;-) Though may go up slightly if they have to swallow that fine.

Apple threatens to ruin peace worldwide with voice-controlled iMacs

Annihilator
Coat

Verb?

I'd be worried for John if "to she-male" was a verb and the Mac was capable of carrying out those instructions. Dystopian future indeed.

[goes cross-legged]

iPhone 5 adaptors goldrush begins

Annihilator
Facepalm

Re: Chunky indeed

Not to mention the additional torque applied to the dock connector on your Zeppelin or equally expensive dock if you knock the new iPhone... Part of the reason they replaced the dock connector was its fragility and likelihood of breaking if you knocked it.

Annihilator
Unhappy

Re: microUSB socket?

Yup, so Apple adopted the "there's an adaptor for that" approach thereby missing the point entirely. There is no microUSB socket on board.

Annihilator
Meh

Re: Not for me

"All the difference is, is a small cable costing 50p which you aready get with every phone."

Except it doesn't cost 50p, does it? It's closer to £7 for the cheapest knock-offs of a 30pin dock cable. And it doesn't really use USB either, does it? If it did there would be a USB socket on the phone. Let me know where that is on your iPhone.

Given Apple have now introduced an "all digital" cable and started from scratch, there is zero reason for not adopting a universal standard connector. There's very little you can't throw over a USB link.

New iPod nano and touch: Lightning strikes again

Annihilator
Meh

Re: I'll wait for another year, again.

And God forbid they just update the "Classic" to a size where I can carry my entire music collection. Surely they can source a bigger disk in the last five years??

Apple Lightning adaptors reveal limitations

Annihilator
Boffin

Re: Yikes!

"Given the new adaptor will need to contain electronics to convert signal types, it'll be a long while before that becomes true for the new crop of Apple products."

It won't contain electronics, it's literally just wires and plastic (which is why the £30 price tag sticks in the throat). There's no signal conversion going on, which is why some (most?) dock devices won't work.

Haynes Build Your Own Computer book review

Annihilator
Go

Re: Everyone...

Ah yes, the "Trigger's broom" of the PC world. Mine started as a P100, changed case 3x, CPU/motherboard countless times (but switched from Intel to AMD and back again at least once). It's definitely still the same "upgraded" PC though in my head :-)

Annihilator
Joke

"Not at the same time though. Computer components tend to react badly to greasy fingers, swarf and being repeatedly belted with a hammer........"

Whereas you just look like a bit of a bell end when under the hood of a car with an anti-static wrist band attached :-)

Annihilator
Pint

Re: Huh?

@TeeCee - think you might have missed the sarcasm there much?... ;-)

Annihilator
Thumb Down

Re: Not really building a computer, is it?

"Anyone can slot together generic components to make a generic Wintel PC"

So it's not "building" but it's "making"? Feel free to argue with yourself, but I'll point you in the direction of "building" or "making" a jigsaw. Or even a house. You build things (a PC) from component parts, and there's always a lower layer of components.

Annihilator
Go

Re: Pfft. Amateurs!

"Look at that...as if anyone actually uses a anti-static strap anymore..."

Indeed. And even if someone *did* choose to use one, the best bet would be leaving the power cord plugged in (switched off at mains) and attaching the wrist-strap to that. Or at least that's what I was told to do on the one occasion I bothered, earth the case and earth yourself through that. Then I decided to just not wear a nylon tracksuit while scuffing up and down the carpet and not grabbing the PCB connectors.

LOHAN straps on satellite comms capability

Annihilator
Coat

Re: "two-way chat"

"Did you say strap in or strap on?"

Annihilator
Paris Hilton

Use?

First thing that springs to mind is a manual launch switch for the rocketry should the pressure switch launch trigger fail, or worse, the telemetry suggests that the balloon has burst prematurely?

Annihilator
Happy

"Um, isn't this overstating the case just a little, especially since the base of operations is currently Spain??"

Not really, the Russian space agencies launch from Kazahkstan. We've just outsourced the LOHAN operations.

Google sneaks in back door, slips YouTube onto iPhone 5

Annihilator
Meh

Agreed. Why should you need an app just to visit a website is the even more basic question. Doesn't stop a multitude of sites doing it (even el Reg I recall!)

Hacker uses Kindle as Raspberry Pi screen

Annihilator
Meh

Re: Not a "hacker"?

"Instead he just jailbroke the Kindle using an existing tool and installed a couple of bits of software."

Aye, thought that too. If he'd plugged it into a PC, would he have been "hacking" his PC to use a Kindle as a screen?

Apple eyes $$$ iDevice adapter bonanza

Annihilator
Meh

Re: Kerching Indeed

"Will the iPhone still fit into these docks once the adapter is in place? Surely it's going to extrude a bit from the original connector?"

I wondered that. Most docks just have the iDevice resting/protruding from the top. I wouldn't fancy balancing a £600 device on whatever adapter they come up with (I'm imagining it to look like the camera/USB adapters)

Raspberry Pi 2.0 ready to ship

Annihilator
Go

Re: Kinda hope

"Ordered one from CPC (the more consumer-friendly arm of Farnell) couple of weeks ago. Turned up next day."

Indeed, don't believe the hype, they're just overly managing expectations. Even in the "2 months wait" period, mine took less than a fortnight. If your supplier is taking 9 weeks, get a new supplier! :-)

Build a bonkers home cinema

Annihilator
Coat

Re: Disc vault?

"Urrm, guys. I can self build a machine that can do that for £300. How could you fail to get it working on a machine that costs £30000? Must try harder."

You can self-build a 42TB storage array for £300? I want your disk supplier please! :-)

Toothbrush fixes ISS’ stuck bolt

Annihilator
Thumb Up

Damn

Next time you grab a can of WD40, remember how easy you have it :-)

Voyager's 35th birthday gift: One-way INTERSTELLAR ticket

Annihilator
Boffin

Re: Isn't about time we built another Voyager?

"There is a tendency to go to other planets and stay there rather than doing a tour of the solar system, but you can get a lot more science done it you have a few years in orbit, rather than an hour flying past."

I'm fairly sure that the Voyager trips were a rather "once in a lifetime" event (every 200 years or so?) due to a rather rare alignment of the outer planets. So very few probes will do tours of the solar system for a while yet.

Chick-lit star snubs Menshn.com password flaw alert

Annihilator
Go

Indeed, 100% secure is basically encrypt the laptop, remove the battery, encase in concrete and drop to the bottom of the ocean. Not exactly useable, but...

Apple confirms 'surprise' September 12 event

Annihilator
Happy

Persona non grata?

I can only assume there's no point asking whether the press invites extended as far as Vulture Towers?

'Nutjob' serves half-baked Raspberry PI scam

Annihilator
Happy

Hmm

Idiot appears on Internet, film at 11.

Ulster Bank waves £100 at punters pummelled by RBS IT fiasco

Annihilator
Paris Hilton

Re: "Inverted commas"

You know it was the article that used "inverted commas", right?...

Curiosity parks for a day, looks back in wonder

Annihilator
Mushroom

Re: HHGttG

"Oooooooh this makes me very angry..."

Bruce Willis didn't Buy Hard: His girls can't inherit his iTunes

Annihilator
Thumb Down

Re: You don't own music

Maybe, but you own the medium it comes on. So the CD that I bought is an asset that I am free to give or sell to whomever I choose. By the same logic, the digital file from iTunes should work in the same manner.

"Copying" didn't even come into the argument, so not sure why you've brought that up.

If iTunes content is truly just "licensed" then why on earth would anyone buy a "licensed" copy instead of buying a CD for the (pretty much) the same price?