Posts by Tom 38
1575 posts • joined Tuesday 21st July 2009 13:02 GMT
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Re: Statistics
This is like 'Poverty in the UK', which is defined as a certain percentage of the median income. One result of this is that there will always be some people in the UK defined as being 'in poverty', presumably because they don't have a flat screen TV.
It also means that if the high end income distribution changes, the median income drops, the 'poverty line' is hence lower, and a certain number of people are 'lifted out of poverty', without increasing how much money they receive or what that money buys them.
Posted in Crytek says future is free-to-play
Re: No thanks
Personally, I felt TF2 was ruined when they started adding 'optional' guns if you did X, Y, Z. It meant that people who spent their lives playing the game had an advantage other than skill/practice over people who only play it infrequently.
That and they totally fucked up by making the 'weaker' original classes like pyro much too powerful to appeal to noobs, and massively reduced the efficiency of the soldier class.
Posted in Crytek says future is free-to-play
Second hand steam
Wow, what nonsense. There are at least two ways steam accounts are traded:
There is a healthy market in steam accounts - where you trade an identity. Some people even put each game purchase on a different steam account/email address in order to simplify this.
Secondly, Steam have added an entire gifting system. You can trade games or items from within games with anyone with a steam account. It could not be easier to trade games on Steam.
Posted in Apple MacBook Air 11in 2012
Re: "iTards"
This isn't accurate. Originally, Thunderbolt was an optical technology with a marketing name of 'LightPeak', but they found they were able to get 10Gb/s out of copper and at the same time provide 10W of power, whilst the interfaces and cables are also cheaper.
Having dropped the optical aspect of the technology, it needed a new name.
Re: One last thing. If we must adapt..
£25 for a thunderbolt adapter. The zenbook will come with a cheap USB adapter.
Guess which one will actually provide gigabit speed?
Posted in Retina Display detachment
Actually, I think £25 for a thunderbolt network adapter is pretty decent, it just should be included in the price of the laptop.
Or put it another way, where are the £10 thunderbolt network adapters?
Re: Surely some mistake, the Samsung Q30 was the first Ultrabook ;)
q30 is a netbook, or ultra-portable, with a 12.1" screen, 24mm height and a plastic body.
The macbook air you are comparing it to has a 13.3" screen, 4-19mm tapered height and an aluminium unibody construction.
The lower height, larger screen and unibody chassis is what makes it an ultrabook. I'm not saying it is better or worse, just that the macbook air defines the ultrabook category.
Re: Keep Taking Those Meds Richard
Must be some different China to the one I just visited.
Take as much data as the can
The most valuable data that us engineers have that makes us desirable employees is taken with us everywhere we go - its our brains.
OTOH, I've known salesdrones to walk off with client lists and contract details (and digitally tracked their activities, so we can sue the pants of them after they've left and gone to $competitor).
Good time to pick up some QT developers on the cheap.
Re: Benefits from this investment?
Depending on what the something is, typically you would not pay income tax on it, but CGT. If you sell your xbox on ebay, theoretically you should be paying CGT on the increase in value of the item, but since it has very likely depreciated in value, there is no tax to pay.
Re: Hello Torproject.org
You'd think, but technology has existed for a long time to allow secure communication, but what do the terrorists do? Simple substitution ciphers using excel:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/22/ba_jihadist_trial_sentencing/
This jihadi even worked in IT!
If you think about, the kind of mind that is happy to blow itself up is unlikely to be rational or follow best practices.
Re: Where and When
This is patently not true. British (1 't' btw) laws can and do extend to british citizens abroad for various things. Go to Thailand and do a Garry Glitter, and the UK plod can and will do you for that. Bribery isn't any different.
The basis for this comes from the fact that abroad you are travelling on a UK passport, which gives you certain rights - the ability to travel to another country, chiefly - and certain responsibilities, including not bribing people and sex tourism.
You want the rights, but none of the responsibilities. Tough.
Re: big surorise...
The firm you are saying Apple are siding with does not provide Apple with any revenue at all, since they produce their own (ridiculously expensive) tablet that only runs their voice software.
I feel for the parents here, but the way they have portrayed this is distasteful. Apple haven't taken anything away from anyone - anyone who has purchased the app still has the app, and if they had synched with itunes, would also have a backup copy of it.
What Apple have done is to pull this app from the app store, so that no new purchasers can buy it. I don't agree with this, they should have waited for a judgement, but the parents (and the reporters) play it as this:
She cannot ask us questions. She cannot tell us that she's tired, or that she wants yogurt for lunch. She cannot tell her daddy that she loves him.
(direct quote from family blog)
Actually she can, as she already has the potentially infringing app and no-one is taking it away from her. The parents real concerns are:
a) They won't get any more updates from the app developer
b) iOS upgrades may make the app not work correctly
Note that neither of these things are guaranteed even if the app was still in the app store. There is no contract that says the app will get updates and fixes, or even compatibility fixes for the next iOS.
If the case is resolved in favour of the app developer, the app would be reinstated in itunes and all these things go away. If it goes the way of the patent holder, the app she has would be proscribed from the app store by the court order.
Either way, she has the app now, will continue to have the app until the end of the court trial at least, and the courts will determine whether the app is available or not after that.
If you want someone to get angry at, try Prentke Romich. They sell a nasty $10k tablet that kids with speech disorders require, bilking your tax dollars (EU) or insurance rates (US). They are the bastards in this story.
Re: Give it a rest
Intriguingly, as I read this lunch time, a lot of the RN ships that fought/stopped/impounded the slave traders as they crossed the Atlantic from Africa were Bermuda Sloops, most of which were designed, built and manned by Bermudan slaves.
It's important to not feel too much guilt about what our imperialistic forefathers did - if we hadn't been doing it, another European power would have been. You could go to any of the Imperial powers and produce another laundry list of dirty deeds. This isn't even a British or even European thing, Imperial Japan has its own long list of atrocities (ask any Korean).
What is more important is that we learn from our history and act more decently from now onwards to the rest of the world as a nation. Which we do.
Posted in Asus Transformer Pad TF300
"Already done", but only if you don't mind minor issues like "Touchscreen (it works but every few touches are off target by 1/2 the screen)"
Posted in Asus Transformer Pad TF300
Re: ASUS Transformer Charger
The USB 3 spec does not specify a 15V@1.2A power, it specifies 5V@0.9A.
If you have a charger kicking out 15V@1.2A, that ain't USB 3.
Re: Can we at least be a little bit smug?
Never thought I'd see 'RMS' and 'pragmatism' in the same sentence, except when separated by 'has no'.
Re: Really couldn't care less
I agree mostly, but both Opera and Firefox are paid large amounts of money to provide google search as a default search engine, making IE the only major browser to not have google as default search engine.
"until they get around to finally salting those hashes"
And how, pray, will they manage that with just the hashed password. You cannot salt an already generated hash, you require the original password in order to salt it prior to hashing.
Therefore if your passwords are hashed but not salted, a hash can only be added at the point the user changes their password.
So many people with opinions but no clues. Here's Sherlock, to help you find one.
Posted in O2, Be Broadband axe Pirate Bay access
Re: @tom 38
Who said anything about downloading music? Copyright infringement is not theft. This is not a personal opinion or argument, it is a legal definition.
The various trade bodies would like copyright infringement to be treated as theft - a criminal offence - rather than copyright infringement, which is a civil offence. To try and achieve this, they have repeatedly lied to consumers, to try and insert this 'fact' into the communal conscience. This behaviour is abhorrent.
FYI - although not that it is relevant - I pay for all my media, one way or another, and do not upload or share media with anyone.
Lets look at the damage to the music industry, in terms of global revenue over the last 6 years.
2006 ($60.7 billion),
2007 ($61.5 billion),
2008 ($62.6 billion),
2009 ($65.0 billion),
2010 ($66.4 billion),
2011 ($67.6 billion)
Really looks like they are struggling there. So why are they moaning so much? Lets look at a breakdown. This is global revenue from physical sales:
$33.1 billion (2006),
$30.6 billion (2007),
$27.5 billion (2008),
$24.6 billion (2009),
$22.2 billion (2010),
$19.9 billion (2011)
Aha. Now it makes more sense. Even as revenue has increased, their old stalwart of physical sales - where they bilk the highest margins from the consumer - has been decimated.
This is the same argument being peddled by the porn barons. The internet has changed how we consume media. We as consumers are no longer prepared to fork out obscene amounts of money for shiny discs, and they need to adapt rather than slavishly holding on to their old ways and trying to legislate/sue people so that nothing changes.
Re: "...doesn't explain the collection of everything else they ended up with."
"The engineers" as you call them is actually Marius Milner, the author of NetStumble. So yes, I'm convinced that was the basic starting point and then he customized it.
At that point, the choice was between Brown and Cameron. He was our only hope, shame how that turned out.
Re: Cookie laws?
"reversible hash" is an oxymoron - if it is reversible, it is not a hash, it is an encryption.
Re: You've got two choices...
I prefer the Drax approach, nerve gas the entire world from space, come back in 5 years.
Allegations that Google may have had knowledge of their actions are extremely serious
Someone once alleged that I had knowledge of my actions, but I was quick to refute him.
We get it, Kim Dotcom is a twat. Still doesn't explain the actions of Team America World Police.
Re: ?kill all humans? Wuz You've got two choices...
As the human race grows, the outbreaks of new or evolved viruses and penicillin resistant strains of bacteria also grow.
Citation? Sounds like bollocks to me. In 1918 the "Spanish flu" killed between 3 and 10% of the world population - between 50 and 130 million people - where as the latest flu pandemics have been relatively minor, like the 2009 swine flu pandemic which killed less than 20,000 worldwide.
Re: Why would slaves rebel?
HTC pay their assembly workers $100k a year.
Oh no wait, that's not right.
Posted in O2, Be Broadband axe Pirate Bay access
Re: Not a torrent user...
Copyright infringement is not theft.
Copyright infringement is not theft.
Copyright infringement is not theft.
Copyright infringement is not theft.
Copyright infringement is not theft.
Copyright infringement is not theft.
Copyright infringement is not theft.
Copyright infringement is not theft.
Copyright infringement is not theft.
Copyright infringement is not theft.
Copyright infringement is not theft.
Copyright infringement is not theft.
What? The movie industry seem to have brainwashed people into believing falsehoods by repeating things over and over again, thought I'd give it a try, but with the truth. Who knows, might catch on.
Re: Oligopoly is a great word
I'm not saying cartel is incorrect, but oligopoly is perfectly fine. An oligopoly is a market that is dominated by a small number of sellers. Because of the small number of sellers, each seller can anticipate and be aware of the other sellers actions, and act appropriately for their business.
A cartel on the other hand implies collusion between sellers in order to achieve a more favourable market for members of the cartel.
Re: Shit laws should be ignored
With a minor change to the cookie "spec" (haha), this information could be easily transmitted along with any cookie, and it wouldn't require web developers to come up with 50,000 different definitions of the __gads cookie does.
Changes to the cookie "spec" happen when a quorum of browser developers determine that new features are needed, and can happen very quickly. Just look at the adoption of the "HttpOnly" and "Secure" flags on cookies.
I'd be fine on a law saying EU websites must emit a "Purpose" flag on cookies, and that browsers in the EU must implement a cookie control mechanism that displays and manages this information.
These sorts of laws should be run by engineers first so that we can say "No, you dipshit, that is complete bonkers, this is how the problem can be solved simply and cheaply".
Posted in OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 240GB PCI-E SSD
Re: Linux?
I've used the earlier version on BSD, where it presents 4 ATA drives for you to use. Can't remember if they presented as AHCI or ATA, but worked out of the box, no drivers required.
At least on that version, the board was basically two SiI SATA controllers, each hooked up to two Sandforce based SSDs.
Shit laws should be ignored
Dumping this clusterfuck on web developers is inane and shows a lack of understanding of how cookies and the internet function. If cookies are an issue that requires legislation, it should be on the browser makers to provide controls that are suitable for managing cookies (doing the work in one place- well, OK, 5) rather than asking millions of websites to alter how they work.
After all, the website doesn't store or transmit the information in the cookie, it asks the browser to do it.
Re: hundreds of billions of dollars?
Technically, a trillion is still hundreds of billions of dollars.
Posted in Marathon
Never played this
But the HUD display reminds me of BSS Jane Seymour, an early 90s romp around a semi destroyed spaceship.
Matt Asay in wise-after-the-fact shocker. Could at least have been honest and said "Oh, and I'm one of those irresponsible fools who thought Facebook was worth hundreds of billions of dollars, but now I've changed my mind".
Posted in OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 240GB PCI-E SSD
Re: The so-called future.
12 x 2TB spinning rust in a ZFS 2x6 raidz would give you ~20 TB of storage for around £780 + VAT. (and controller, although I get away with using onboard SATA and cheap 2 port pci-e x1 adaptors)
Adobe Flash is now baked into Internet Explorer 10
…
There is a catch though: Flash support only applies to sites on a compatibility list distributed by Microsoft.
This project seems like it is being managed by Ballmer. Whilst world+dog move to rid themselves of shitty Adobe products, MS go one further and embed it even closer into their OS - but only if you pay them first.
PS: The user who thought that the ad companies wouldn't get whitelisted for flash - dream on pal.
PPS: Burn in hell Windows 8.
@¬Spartacus
Way to miss the point fella.
One shouldn't care what processor is in a phone. However, phones using this processor have downsides that make you need to care. The 'first looker' didn't seem to be bothered by this, eulogising the "magic" that the manufacturer's press release espoused and playing it down, and then said it is fantastic value for money.
That's the point right there. Is it fantastic value for money? No-one knows yet, because you would need a full review looking at how this different architecture handles power hungry apps and real life usage. But the 'first looker' doesn't need that; he's read the press release, gone to the launch event and he's already sold on it's "fantastic value for money".
PS: I don't know why buying a Lumia would make you an Intel shill - it, like every fucking phone worth buying, uses an ARM processor. You do seem really miffed for some reason that people do not want power hungry x86 chips in their phones.
Posted in iLuv Vibro Classic II
Misleading name
"iLuv Vibro Classic" conjured up a different kind of accessory to me.
Re: Oh FFS!
Because it looks like a shitty intel version of the San Francisco, which is half the price, doesn't run its apps in an emulator, doesn't have a washed out camera.
The reviewer actually says "the San Diego is fabulous value for money". Really? I can find a plethora of android based phones at this price point with better features and not relying on emulation to run apps.
I'm not saying he's a shill, but I do think it is a crap review. The only interesting thing with this phone is that it runs on an Atom, with apps running on an ARM emulator, which gives compatibility issues, performance issues and power issues.
When you want a phone, you don't care about what processor it runs, but you do want it to be compatible with your apps, be performant and not chew power, and on that basis this phone is a dog that the reviewer called a horse.
Of course he was sympathetic
Remember that this discussion was whether News Corp (NC) could buy a controlling interest in BSkyB. My reaction on first hearing this was "wait, don't they already?", to which the answer is "yes, pretty much, but not explicitly", and on that basis, what's the big fucking deal?
A different question is whether Murdoch is a fit enough person to control NC, but whether NC control 100% of BSkyB or 39% is really nitpicking - he has complete control, as evidenced by the nepotistic parachuting of his son in as BSkyB CEO back in 2003.
Posted in China wants to be techno SUPERPOWER
HAPPY HAPPY HARDCORE
Finally, I was getting fed up with non-stop German techno.
TO SIBERIA… AND BEYOND!
Re: "Alternatively, give your current provider a call and try and wangle a special bespoke offer. "
Just a me too, when I went to get my PAC code from O2, they conversation went like this:
Retentions: Why do you want to leave O2?
Me: You stopped giving me unlimited data, and now it is 500MB a month.
Retentions: Yes, but since we did this, you don't use more than 500MB a month.
Me: Duh? You charge me now if I use more than that.
Now I'm with Three, and can blissfully watch the cricket on my mobile without having to buy some extra capacity at tea.
Re: …Unix disk space issues that were solved decades ago
The best thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from. LSB and FHS are documents about how Linux people want to organize Linux.
Furthermore, they illustrate my point about these directories not relating to disk space issues. From FHS:
/bin
Essential command binaries that need to be available in single user mode; for all users, e.g., cat, ls, cp.
/sbin
Essential system binaries, e.g., init, ip, mount.
/usr/bin
Non-essential command binaries (not needed in single user mode); for all users.
And so on. The need for a standard was to rein in all the various distributions that would install packages in particularly obscure locations like /opt. It is not necessary for proper UNIX OS like FreeBSD or OpenBSD, who have hier(7) that date from V7 UNIX, and already arranged their filesystem in a sane manner. Compare and contrast FHS with hier(7), you will see that FHS is simply a cut down and simplified version of hier(7), with added Linux-isms.
Re: Incitement to hatred
Two things:
1) Seeing how he was in Sweden at the time, what they consider to be rape is quite pertinent here.
2) He didn't make himself available for questioning, he told his lawyer to hide him from investigators whilst he fled to a different country.
Actions speak louder than words.
…Unix disk space issues that were solved decades ago
This has nothing to do with disk space, and all to do with booting, availability and recovery.
Essential programs for using the system live in /bin and /lib
Essential sysadmin programs for fixing the system live in /sbin and /lib
OS installed programs live in /usr/bin and /usr/lib
OS installed sysadmin utilities live in /usr/sbin and /usr/lib
User installed programs live in /usr/local/bin and /usr/local/lib
When you boot up single user, you would typically only mount what is necessary to boot - /. This typically includes /lib, /bin and /sbin, so the programs found in there are what enable you to go multiuser.
I suppose it does make sense that linux would drop all these conventions. Every linux distro I've used has no concept of an "OS", just a collection of packages that get installed that make up the OS. Something that I would consider part of the OS - like OpenSSL - is instead bundled up as a package and installed alongside something utterly irrelevant, like xchat.
Given that they already drop that useful distinction, just sticking everything in one place probably felt natural.
Shocked
I'm shocked that a man wanted for questioning by one of our close neighbours in Europe is being allowed to be extradited there to face the music. I thought one of the basic tenets of law is that if you flee the country before you get charged, and then spend millions of pounds fighting extradition, that you should basically get away scot-free.
