Posts by solidsoup
215 posts • joined Friday 17th July 2009 16:14 GMT
Odd
Why would a company like Silent Circle openly advertise government interest, especially going along with it? Here is what it sounds like to me: "Hello, governments of the world. Singapore government has already bought in. You should too, lest you be left out from our data stream. Imagine how hard be brute-forcing that encryption would be."
Paranoid? Moi?
I for one welcome...
I think the regulator should fully embrace Telstra's idea of "congestion-pricing" various services when "such practices are transparent". In fact, they should mandate that ACCC would be in charge of that transparency and would be doing 2 things for transparency's sake:
1. Designing the pricing and service description for each telecom provider that follows congestion-charging that telecoms are required to use on their websites and in any advertising campaign where they mention the price.
AND
2. Launching a website where customers can compare all the providers' pricing and associated caps.
What's that Telstra? You no longer want congestion-charging?
Re: Oh they would so love to do it ...
Microsoft has gotten cocky as to even entertain the notion of persistent online requirement is ludicrous. One of the reasons consoles overtook PC gaming is that they "just worked". Microsoft should really look no further than Sony to see what happened to them last time they got cocky.
I predict that it's next quarterly report that reflects sales of Windows 8, Surface, Server 2012 and nokia phones (what's a nokia?) will come with a prescription for humble pills attached. Hopefully, then we can see them care a bit more about what their customers want. That or they can crawl under a rock and die - ether's fine by me.
Re: LENR emerging soon
Aha hhaa ha ha ha. Ha haa ha ha ha. Aha hhaa ha ha ha. Ha haa ha ha ha.
Please get me up off the floor. Haa ha ha ha. Ha!
For every degree that the laser moves, a drone would have to move 17.454 meters if it's 1 km away and proportionally more with distance. If it does so in a predicable pattern, then its of no use, so you need enormous g-forces and fuel burn. It's true that currently the laser requires relative long on-target time, but with adaptive optics and motion tracking (think Hubble taking pictures of the same patch for minutes while hurtling around earth - and it's hundreds of times slower in tracking than military spy satellites are) that's not a problem. Frankly it doesn't matter even if it took 10 minutes to destroy a target, it simply cannot be evaded through rapid motion. Once this is scaled up, China may find their anti-carrier missiles to be somewhat less threatening.
I'm just surprised there are enough people willing to pay Aereo for the load of ads and crappy content that is US broadcast TV.
Nope. That only works if you imagine a perfectly spherical cow. In the real world, if you build an airframe that's capable of this, it would be useless for any other task. Moreover, the further it is from the laser, the less effective this would be, as for huge aircraft movements, the laser would only need to make tiny adjustments in positioning its mirror, orders of magnitude smaller than it makes to compensate for waves and ship movement.
Really?
I expect more from my fellow commentards. I would have you know that your average household mirror reflects only 40-60% of light. To achieve 99% you need special coatings and materials which tend to be fragile (think telescope mirrors) and short-lived (think anti-glare coating on glasses). They tend to be very narrowly tailored for the wavelength and so would be easily defeated by a multi-wavelength laser. Even with smoke defense, the energies involved are such that the laser would potentially clear its own path. In short, lasers are much cheaper to build than to defend against.
Re: Hitting Snooze
Turbulence, not temperature.
Hitting Snooze
Wake me up when the data is strong enough to not require playing with charts. In this instance rather than showing temperature, it merely shows how many predictors agree on the increase, yet that's not the association in most people's heads when they view it. I mean, LOOK AT THE ALARMING RED!
I guess this would explain calendar issues. Also, has anyone noticed anything weird about its performance on Saturdays?
No, Mr GBL. I want them to die.
Re: Degrees of Clever
"Given the similarities to our own approach, I expect Facebook Home to fail quite miserably", he added.
Re: Do not want, and in fact this kind of thing is a fucking 'orrible idea.
Agree. Fucking stupid idea. This is akin to ABS and lack of predicted safety improvement. It's called risk compensation. People will simply take proportionally more risks, relying on technology to keep them safe.
Moreover, any one who drives frequently and does so well, can infer other vehicles' intent and plot projected movement almost mechanistically from tiny wobbles and driving style. (As well as auto make - if there's BMW overtaking you, you somehow know he's likely to cut you off soon enough) However, this is based on meatbag behavior and if you throw electronics in the mix, this predictability becomes less effective.
We already have vehicles that are able to take you from place to place without your intervention. You can even text, read, or watch a movie while riding them. They're called cabs and buses. Some of them are even driven by "professional drivers".
Re: ubuntu obvious choice
The obligatory...
So on one end of the deal you have an entity controlled by a cadre of orthodox ideologues and lead by an autocratic leader who can't handle people disagreeing with him. It spies on its subjects and is willing to sell them out to multinational commercial interests. And on the the other there's Republic of China.
Part of a Plan
In light of this, introducing feature that spies on peoples searches makes a lot more sense. They can just substitute PRC servers for their own now and keep the same code. Very convenient. Now if any company allied itself with China to build the operating system, there would be outcry aplenty. See this fly past the radar as Ubuntu is considered crucial by many in the free software movement in beating "evil" Apple and Microsoft.
Posted in SimCity 4
Re: Broken
I think the word broken is a lot more appropriate for the new release.
Come on Register! Enough of the appetizers. When are you coming out with the review of the new game? (I assume the advertising campaign includes writing one, n'est pas?) I want to hear what the new game is like when played, seeing as how I can't physically play it for myself.
Actually, this whole debacle reminds me of South Park episode where Cartman advertised his theme park with "you can't come" motto.
Re: Facepalm...
He may be an idiot. In fact, I'm fairly sure he is. However, the logic is sound. If we consider CO2 a pollutant, then it follows that anyone or anything that's releasing it into the environment in any significant is polluting said environment. All this shows is how retarded it is to classify CO2 as a pollutant.
"Drop your product price. Not that big of a deal."
They're both full of $#!T
Broder wanted to write a more exciting article and so did his best to get in trouble and added copious varnish. Mission accomplished. Musk, rather than address the inherent limitations of Model S (who cares if he charged for 47 or 58 minutes?), chooses to attack the reporter personally. I would be vewy wowwied about the future of Tesla if I was an investor.
Smart
This should spread out all that unsold inventory. I may even stop by one once they start an HP-style fire sale. Say around $250.
Re: *facepalms*
Quite an emotional response. Are you a doctor or a computer tech?
These scanner should never have been installed
If any of the security agencies in US and the West bothered to see how Israeli security services, who have decades of counter-terrorism experience, do it, - these scanner would've never been installed. Moreover, our security would look less like theater and more like an actual security. Of course that would also jeopardize kickbacks from multibillion dollar contracts.
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/744199---israelification-high-security-little-bother
A few years back (but after 9/11) I flew with El Al and we got metal knifes and forks with our food! And no, that doesn't jeopardize security of the aircraft in any way if you think about it.
Re: @AC 16:49
@ First Dave
A common misunderstanding of what plea-bargaining involves here. Once the defendant and the prosecutor agree, prosecutor has to recommend the agreed-upon sentence to the judge. While in most cases, the judge will just use that sentence, it's completely up to them. Judges sometimes give a lower sentence if they consider the agreed upon one to be unfair or refuse to allow the plea-bargain entirely. They can also issue a greater sentence than the prosecution recommends. That's what happened in Polanski case - the judge was going to issue a much greater sentence than the prosecutor recommended.
Re: @AC 16:49
The unfair aspect is the huge sentences involved for trivial crimes because of unecessarily broad law. Plea bargaining as such is not really the problem here. As to innocent people who plead guilty, I'm more concerned about innocent people who get convicted. A jury trial actually reduces conviction rates and increases the standard for prosecutors to reach. If someone wants to exercise their personal responsibility and plead guilty to a crime they didn't commit, that's on them. Most of such cases aren't black and white anyway.
@AC 16:49
I beg to differ. Given how expensive jury trials are, it's inevitable that most cases need to be solved pre-trial. Plea-bargaining, despite its disadvantages, is the most fair way to do so and still allow for jury trials. Now what I think should be changed are the unreasonbly high sentences for crimes that don't involve violance. Particularly those that deal with computers and drugs.
Prosecutor not to blame
It seems quite a few people here don't understand how this actually works. Over 90% of cases in US are decided through a plea bargain. This means that the prosecutor and the defendant/lawyer sit down and negotiate what the sentence would be if the defendant were to plead guilty. It's not clear from her statement, but it's likely that 6 months term was the carrot for pleading guilty, not the stick that she threatened with should the case go to court. I think she's being disingenious there. The stick may have 30 years maximum sentence, however, there's no evidence to suggest that she would likely have asked for that in the trial. What would happen is prosecutor would ask for sentence on a high end that still appears reasonable to the judge, counting on the judge reducing it somewhat. How much a prosecutor asks for officially wouldn't even enter the picture until sentencing hearing and is predicated upon how many counts the defendant is convicted on.
Now it may seem that this is an example of overzealous prosecution, but threatening a defendant with a high sentence is an inherent feature of a plea bargain system. There are advantages and disadvantages to it, however there is little blame that should be shouldered by the prosecutor in this case because the threat of high sentences is a systematic disadvantage of the system. Now as to the law in question, it certainly should be changed to be more specific as it is too wide a tool and a prosecutor can use it in any computer crime to force the defendant to take the plea bargain.
In terms of benefiting from bendiness, a phone isn't the battery operated device I immediately thought of.
Yes there's a study coming out every week and most of them aren't in IPCCs favor. Either way, I wouldn't base policy on any of them, particularly when it comes to something as long-term as climate change. That said, soot and other particulates need to be eliminated as much as possible - climate effects or not, they're terrible for ones health. I just wish we dealt with actual problems (which we have plenty of) rather than running around screaming about the boogie monster du jour.
Re: 300 Windows 8 users at Thermopylae
- "...but I'm just Google messenger".
- "You bring a more limited functionality to my platform, you insult my user interface, and threaten my users with open standards. I've chosen my feature-set carefully Persian, but you should've done the same."
- "Spartan, This is madness!"
- "Madness? THIS IS WINDOWS!!!!!!! eight"
Re: 15 million more androids
Yep, 300 sounds about right. Microsoft should start planning for the battle of Thermopylae.
Re: "We adhere to the laws of the countries in which we operate."
What's with all the mock outrage. It's funny how most commentards are for privacy and companies not divulging user information, but US bashing always takes priority. As was mentioned in the article, the user may not even live in France. Why should French courts have jurisdiction?
Winning the battle...
Intel is absolutely right about this. Convertibles are the future and if the more they can stick their silicon into, the better for them. There's just one problem with their whole plan. Long-term, the future of Intel on tablets is tied with Windows and x86 platform. Both are on the decline and its not likely that this trend will reverse. If it wasn't for legacy x86 applications, who in their right mind would choose Intel-based tablet over Tegra 4, with its superior graphics and power consumption?
Yes, yes, but can it run a pirated copy of Crysis?
They're probably in buy-out negotiations. Apple bought C3 Maps, Facebook bought Instagram. Now Google wants to expand into new markets, namely Nuclear Enrichment and Ballistic Delivery Systems. I personally would've went with Iran because of its more convenient location, but they probably know something we don't. Of course, it could all be hot air and they are simply negotiating a new location for the Google Opt-Out Village (http://www.theonion.com/video/google-opt-out-feature-lets-users-protect-privacy,14358/)
Wrong feature
Google should have turned off a similar feature where it replaces your keywords with ones it likes.
Re: So too much ozone is bad....
Ozone in the troposphere is a pollutant. It is extremely harmful to one's respiratory health. In the stratosphere, on the other hand, ozone absorbs UV rays, therefore decreasing how much we get exposed to. The half-life of ozone molecules is 30 minutes, so even if they were magically floating up (not the case), it still wouldn't make a difference for the ozone layer as a whole.
I was writing a snide post about how nuclear energy doesn't have this issue, but you know what, fuck it... If we as a civilization cannot take advantage of scientific advances of the past century purely due to political or ideological reasons, then we are doomed. And rightly so.
Re: Well Obviously...
Granted my post was whiny, but what rules did it break?
I think Camilla meant Victoria. That's the tube that goes to Brixton.
I will have to revise my numbers as well.
SEC can consider this an official press release. I was going to buy one (1) Windows 8 RT tablet in February for 200 American dollars. It appears that due to modification to the supply curve, I have to revise my acquisition cost to 250 American dollars.
Re: Must watch more news
Watch news? Ha! I thought you only read alternet and prisonplanet.
Posted in Israel declares war on Hamas via Twitter
Re: Total ignorant comment ahead...
It's not a religious conflict. In fact, most conflicts classed as religious - aren't. There's always an agenda. Palestinians make money from perpetual attacks on Israel. These attacks serve various agendas of regional actors - from basic hate of Jews to increasing price of oil and distracting their own populace from internal problems. In this instance, the escalation started after a visit to Gaza of Qatari cleric. He reportedly transferred $250 million to Hamas and other groups. Ironically, in this case it may have been to get them out from under Iranian influence. That whole region is a viper pit and most people haven't got a clue as to what's going on, yet feel like they understand the situation.
Posted in Israel declares war on Hamas via Twitter
Yeah, targeting perpetrators in response rocket attacks against your citizens is just part of an election campaign. Just like UK fighting against IRA was to win elections. Come to think of it, in my city there was a campaign against crime. It's probably because that bastard Mayor wants to get reelected.
Re: Why downvote.
It's not covered by the story, but in other sources, one of the things Kelley expressed to FBI is that she suspects someone else has access to Patraeus personal account.
It doesn't matter whether he was actually screwing Kelley. While it may be bad to sneak around, it's similarly bad to appear to, even when you don't.
Re: So, in summary
Why 3 down votes? I don't care, but would like to know what you 'tards found disagreeable?
Re: I really hate this
1) In CIA culture affairs are frowned upon. They are an intelligence vulnerability. You cannot have a person who doesn't adhere to agency's culture as its head.
2) The moment Broadwell sent threatening emails to the Pentagon liaison, his affairs clearly started affecting his job.
Re: So, in summary
Interestingly, that's not the moral I've extracted.
1) If you're going to fool around with 2 different ladies, at least make sure to use a different email account for each.
2) It's unbecoming of an officer and the head of the CIA to conduct his "affairs" so unprofessionally.
3) Women aren't necessarily rational agents and shouldn't be modeled as such by men, whether in intelligence positions or otherwise.
Posted in Apple, HTC kiss and make up
Re: Android fragmentation is logarithmic
Tally so far:
HTC - settled with secret agreement (for all we know Apple may be paying them).
Samsung - lost a jury trial, but the verdict won't be upheld on appeal because of the foreman's links to Apple, potential conflict of interest. Samsung won the trial that had Apple write/hide/rewrite/hide by a different method statement on its UK website. Samsung products are cleared throughout the EU.
Motorola - had Apple's lawsuit dismissed with prejudice, Apple still owes Motorola FRAND license money.
There fixed that for you.
@Ledswinger
1) US hasn't given Israel ANYTHING in the way of nuclear technology. 60% it got from France. 40% it developed in-house. Some processes Israel developed for uranium enrichment have actually been adopted by US.
2) IRAN IS NPT SIGNATORY. What it received nuclear tech from US, it took upon itself an obligation to never develop nuclear weapons.
3) The opening salvo of the shadow war was Iran holding American diplomats hostage, which is violation of international law.
4) I also don't like sanctimonious Iran-bashing (if you note my first comment here), but US hypocrisy doesn't make Iran equivalent to US or Israel, logically or morally.
