* Posts by Dr. Mouse

2114 publicly visible posts • joined 22 May 2007

Stop sexing up IT and give Civil Servants Macs, says gov tech boss

Dr. Mouse

Apple...

They should "use more Apple products" during an "efficiency drive"?!

We recently had a similar experience. One of our higher-ups decided that, for the upgraded systems we were putting in place, he wanted Macs.

Not only did they cost more than twice the price of the faster hardware we specced for him, the software *wouldn't even run natively* on Mac OSX. We would have had to either boot them into RHEL or run RHEL in a VM to make it work.

He just wanted Macs.

In the end we managed to slap him with a wet kipper (well, go over his head explaining the massive waste of resources he wanted to engage in) and he got a bunch of generic very fast workstations (the sort that starts tingly feelings in unmentionable areas) for half the cost, but he wasn't happy (I WANT A MAC WAH WAH WAH!!)

Artificial leaf produces electricity through photosynthesis

Dr. Mouse

I think there may be an error

E ~= 1KW/m^2

e(leaf) ~= 2%

e(art leaf) ~= 10e(leaf) ~= 20% = 0.2

so for the artificial leaf, you get 0.2*1000 = 200W/m^2

for 0.005544m^2, you get 1W, not 0.01W

unless I have missed something (I am as prone to error as anyone else)

US Navy to field full-on robot war-jets as soon as 2018

Dr. Mouse

Good idea?

"In short, in a fight, humans would easily win an air war against the robots - at the moment."

Would it not be a good idea to keep it that way?

Back to the nano-mechanical future

Dr. Mouse

Love it

Engineering at it's best. Very simple, elegant and original solution.

South West Trains puts squeeze on commuters

Dr. Mouse

If I took the train

I once worked this out to try to save money. I have moved further from a train station now, so these figures are not accurate any more.

If I took the train to work, I would need to be on the first applicable train from my local station, at about 6am. I would need to change 3 times, and would arrive at the station nearest where I work at 9:30am, giving a total of 3 and a half hours travelling. The situation is the same on the way back. Therefore, I have spent a total of 7 hours out of my day, nearly a full working day, just travelling.

If I could work on the train, then things become a little better. Time I could work on the train, taking into account the changes and some time to get set up on the train, would be approx 2.5 hours each way. Assuming I can get a suitable seat, of course. This then leaves me with only 2.5 hours to do at work, but it leaves you thinking "Why didn't I just work from home in the first place?"

In the car, the journey takes me 30-45mins. It makes for a simple choice.

Specifically with respect to these trains, one of the often-quoted advantages to using public transport is the ability to get work and/or other things done while travelling, which you cannot do while driving (at least, you shouldn't, although I know a few people who check their emails, update client notes etc. while driving). If there is barely enough space for you to sit, there is no chance of you being able to get your laptop out.

Southampton Uni shows way to a truly open web

Dr. Mouse

Erm...

"hardly worth a fawning two page article on El Reg"

I count 3 pages.

X-51 hypersonic scramjet test bird ready for second flight

Dr. Mouse

Hmm...

"Why oh why are we still developing technology that requires combustable fuel"

Maybe because it's the only technology we have which is currently usable in this situation?

I would LOVE to see someone try to power a hypersonic aircraft with batteries. At this point in time, it is just not possible.

Cars, I can see the point. We are nearly at the stage where an electric car could replace one with an ICE for more than short distance use. It's already there with hybrid tech (although I don't see why they are all petrol, diesel seems a better fit for most).

But aircraft still have a LONG way to go, and spacecraft will be in the "distant" future. For now, we still need combustion-based technology for these applications.

Google copyright purge leaves Android developers exposed

Dr. Mouse

How?

How could they think they could get away with it?

"I'll take a copyrighted work, remove the copyright notice and a couple of bits I don't need, and it is not longer copyrighted so I can do what I want"

If you tried that with anything else, you would be laughed at.

Judge mulls 'wasted costs' as ACS:Law cases close

Dr. Mouse

Unfortunately...

I don't think that's quite true.

I do not know if the judge can make Crossley pay the actual court costs, although I hope he can.

I think the people who will be most out-of-pocket are those who chose to defend themselves. They will have huge fees for their lawyers. They are the main costs which need to be recouped.

I think, in this case, Crossley (or at least someone involved in this despicable extortion racket) should pick up all the costs involved. It would send a message to anyone thinking of doing the same in future.

Whitehall to puff punters: 'Hide your fags'

Dr. Mouse

Hmm...

"These displays are one of the few ways that tobacco manufacturers can work to recruit new younger smokers."

I think the main way they recruit is by a school kid, one of the tough, cool kids, getting their hands on a pack. Their friends then see it as cool, so start.

Dr. Mouse

One point to note:

I remember reading somewhere that this will just generate more revenue for Tobacco companies.

Tobacco co's saved a hell of a lot when they were no longer allowed to advertise, and this was not passed on to the consumer.

The same will happen with packets: They will cost the co's a substantial amount less.

It will not discourage smokers. It is unlikely to stop people from starting smoking, as most start in their teens before they are legally allowed, so can't buy them from a shop anyway.

Dr. Mouse

Actually

I haven't seen the figures (so don't take this as fact), but someone told me that the tax the govt collects from tobacco exceeds the NHS budget.

This was a few years back. It may be that NHS costs have gone up and smokers, therefore tax revenues, have gone down. It also may just be incorrect.

Direct action group defaces Vodafone in tax avoidance protest

Dr. Mouse

If what Voda say is true...

I what Vodafone is saying is correct, and they have not used "tax avoidance" (perfectly legal) to lower their tax bills, they are actually in trouble anyway.

A company's main responsibility is, AFAIK, to bring value to shareholders. This is done by generating the maximum possible profit.

If they have not exploited tax loopholes to lower their tax bill, they have not done their duty towards shareholders and could face action from them.

Rock, meet Hard Place.

Ofcom says no to automatically renewed contract badness

Dr. Mouse

Been there too

Had the same problem with my insurance. Not such an easy solution though (I am still fighting it, without much success as yet...)

Anti-religious campaigners smack down census Jedis

Dr. Mouse

@AC

"Athiests KNOW there is nothing. It's not about a belief in something which cannot be proven."

Do you wish to prove that there is no god?

Dr. Mouse

Maybe I've been misinformed.

But I don't get it.

There seems to be a lot of argument (here and elsewhere in this thread) about that phrase.

"An Atheist believes there is no god."

As far as I have always been aware, that is the definition of an Atheist. Not someone who doesn't believe in any of the religions, not one who neither believes nor disbelieves in a god. The whole premise is the belief that there is no god.

Of course we can go into definitions of god, but apart from that I fail to see the flaw. Is my definition of Atheism that wrong?

As to faith... I was brought up in a religious household. Faith, in a religious context, is accepting an idea as fact without proof. There may be much evidence to support the idea, but not enough to stand up to a full logical argument. This is where faith comes in.

So, by all the information I have at hand, my argument was logical. I am not "exploiting the multiple meanings that English words and phrases can have in the service of a bullshit argument".

Dr. Mouse

Disproof of "Atheism is not a faith"

An Atheist believes there is no god.

There is no solid evidence that there is no god (just as there is no solid evidence that there is a god).

Faith is a belief in something for which there is no solid evidence.

Therefore, an Atheist has Faith that there is no god.

QED

Dr. Mouse

Not really

Atheists believe that a god does not exist.

Those who are Agnostic do not believe that a god exists.

There is a difference. Atheism is a postitive belief. Agnosticism(?) is a lack of belief.

Dr. Mouse

Bull

"If we all believed in pure Darwinism/Evolution then it would be perfectly acceptable to run small children over on the way to work. Going for a new job? Gun down your rivals as they arrived for their interviews. Selfish Gene and all that, survival of the fittest. Perfectly justifiable."

This is pure bull!

We are social animals. We have "known", since long before religion, that in order for the species to continue we must work together. We must support and defend our offspring, our family, our social group.

Morals did not grow from religion, they were incorporate into religion. Religion grew from a desire to understand the universe (from science, you could say). Instead of saying "we don't know", we formulated theories, for example an all-powerful being. Religion grew because, firstly, it gave easy explanations to what seemed unexplainable, and secondly, people realised it was a great tool by which to control people.

Dr. Mouse

Beg to differ...

Although I hate to disagree with our all-powerful Moderatrix, I would say yes, you can be a fundamentalist Atheist.

Your problem here appears to be that you define Atheism as a lack of belief, which is not the case. Atheism is a belief that there is no god. It would be all too possible for a group of Atheists to say, for example, "Anyone who follows a religion is stupid and must be killed", and launch a war on religion.

I am Agnostic. I would say a person without beliefs would be Agnostic, but I don't believe that.

Launcher Pro

Dr. Mouse

Brilliant replacement

I have been using this on my Motorola Dext for quite a while now, and it is great. Very responsive and stable, I wouldn't have a 'droid without it!

Three pushes UNLIMITED data to PAYG punters

Dr. Mouse

Erm...

If you are using your phone as a wireless hotspot for the PC, you are breaking GiffGaff's T's & C's. Don't be surprised if you get booted.

Dr. Mouse

T&C

On GiffGaff, the T&C's state that tethering is not allowed. This is because they offer unlimited usage, but only from a phone. Let's face it, a phone is not going to be easily able to download as much as a PC. They are quite happy for you to do whatever you want from your mobile, not imposing any caps. It is unreasonable for them to allow you to use it as a replacement for home broadband.

Dr. Mouse

title

The GG £10 bundle is for 150mins, but they are currently running a promo giving 100 extra = 250. At the end of the month that drops back to 150.

I would be curious to know if the three deal allows tethering. It's one thing GG don't allow at the moment.

Cobalt-barrel machine guns could fire full auto Hollywood style

Dr. Mouse

Great!

That makes it an even more effective weapon.

Just make sure the dust goes in the same direction as the bullets.

When the bullets run out, as mentioned above, whack the enemy over the head with 1100 degC stick.

This weapon is sounding better all the time!

TalkTalk silenced over anti-BT comparison

Dr. Mouse

The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits

"Most attempts to solve the problems with government IT have treated the symptoms rather than resolved the underlying system-wide problems. This has simply led to doing the wrong things 'better'"

This sounds like most of the companies I have worked for.

Europe confirms raids on ebook publishers

Dr. Mouse

I agree in part

Seeing the cost of an ebook being more than the price of the paperback riles me. I'm just glad I have Calibre to convert ebooks from other formats so I can shop around, but even then prices are way too high.

But let's not jump straight onto Amazon as the source of the high prices. If the publishers are charging that much, they can't be expected to sell them at a loss.

The other thing that pisses me off is VAT on ebooks.

I half wish my other half never bought me my Kindle... But then again it's a lovely bit of kit, and has transformed my oppinions of ebook readers. All they need to do is sort the pricing (the ex VAT price should be no more than the cost of the cheapest edition new. So while it's only in hardback, use the hardback price. Once it's in paperback, drop to paperback price. Simples.)

iPhone 'Death Grip' effect is real, plastic cases don't help

Dr. Mouse

This is the first step

This is the first step of such a project.

It may be that the results don't come as a surprise, but in order to gauge the problem, you need to perform controlled, scientific tests.

The next stage, which he has said he will be doing, is to find a way round the problem. This is much easier when you have accurate measurements to start with.

Godson: China shuns US silicon with faux x86 superchip

Dr. Mouse

I have never heard of this

It would be incredibly usefull for several projects I am working on. Any change of details of the co you used?

AMD's Bulldozer cores to push to 3.5 GHz and beyond

Dr. Mouse

Yep

The AVX mode sounds like something I have been wondering about for a while now. I have been wondering why it hasnt been done before.

Most workloads are mainly integer, so sharing an FPU and allowing 1 core to use all of it sounds like a logical step.

With a bit of luck, this should in itself see a performance boost. It should also allow, say, a 1-thread video encoder to run near the performance of a 2-thread, without the "normal" loss of quality associated with multi-threaded compression.

German Foreign Office kills desktop Linux, hugs Windows XP

Dr. Mouse

Agree...

QUOTE: When the "users" are the CEO and his gaggle of supporting lackeys

This is the most likely explanation. I hate to think "backhander" (although it was the first thing which came to mind) but the most likely causes are:

* Higher-ups don't like Linux, miss being able to play games on their work machines or similar, or

* Custom VB macros don't work in OO, and noone has the expertise (or time) to rewrite them

Acer in alleged Chrome OS monitor plot

Dr. Mouse

I was thinking that...

Old computer (or even something like a Sheevaplug/Guruplug) hooked up to monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Boot optimised Linux environment, possibly running completely from RAM.

Load X and a web browser.

Done! You have duplicated what ChromeOS is supposed to do. (Plus you still have the option of real local programs for specific porpoises or dolphins)

Flash drives dangerously hard to purge of sensitive data

Dr. Mouse

That's the point

That will only fill the REPORTED disk size with zeros. SSDs are over provisioned, and when new data is written, it often just remaps the block and puts the new data in a new location. Hence, looking at the chips themselves, you could recover a potentially large amount of data.

Dr. Mouse

Interesting

I had not considered this from a security point of view before.

But do drives not have an "Erase everything" now? I have heard them mentioned alot for performance reasons (i.e. as performance degrades due, you can backup, fully erase, and restore, setting the drive back to "factory" performance levels) and I was fairly sure that this performed an erase on all flash chips in the device.

One thing I do think should be done is allow the drive to be set as a "pure" flash device, maybe using an extension to the ATA/SCSI command set. That way, these devices could be managed using traditional flash filesystems. Or something similar... I'm sure ZFS could easily be tweaked to work well on semi-raw flash. It would be nice if we were given the option, at least, to have more control below the emulated-hard-disk layer (and if drives would stop pretending to have 512b sectors, reporting the true sector size or page size to the OS),

Fifa, Uefa lose free-to-view footie challenge

Dr. Mouse

Thats really anoying...

Get a Pirate film, in a standard DVD player, and you can normally watch the film you didn't pay for straight away.

Buy a legit copy, and you have no choice but to sit through adverts and lectures on piracy. So you pay more for an inferior product.

Sound good?

Dr. Mouse

Good for the most part

I am not into football at all. When the World Cup was on last, a reversal happened: it was my girlfriend forcing me to watch the footy. So I don't particularly care about this WRT football.

What I am into is Formula 1. I can see a day when this ends up on Sky Sports. At that point I will be faced with a problem.

I don't mind paying to watch it. What I do mind is having to pay for all the other stuff (football etc.) that's shown on Sky JUST to watch my F1. I don't want to watch ManU play Arsenal or whatever else, just F1, but I would be forced to subscribe to the Sports package and shell out a big chunk of my hard-earned just to see the one sport I am interested in.

I am sure many people would be prepared to pay to watch the sports they want, but don't want to pay for those they will never watch.

Sheep as smart as humans: Official

Dr. Mouse

Nope...

That's insulting to the sheep!

Bahrain Grand Prix may be postponed

Dr. Mouse

As I said...

I am not making judgements by posting that, I am just passing on another piece of information.

But for what it's worth, I'll play devil's advocate. How do you know it is not the other way around? The majority content with the status quo, a minority who want change and are going to extreme lengths to get it? From what I have seen, not everyone is out protesting. While it is possible that many do not want to protest out of fear for their safety, it is equally plausible that they support the King but are too afraid of the violence to come out in his support.

Once again, I am not expressing my opinion here, only playing devil's advocate.

Dr. Mouse

A suggestion

All the coverage of Bahrain has been one-sided. I am not suggesting it is wrong, or that the deaths caused by the police/security forces are right, but I suggest this for a read:

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=1243

This has been written by someone living in Bahrain, and represents an alternative viewpoint. It is always best to hear all sides of any disagreement.

I do not make any judgements here, I am just pointing out a source of information which may be of interest to those with an open mind.

Watson? Commercial – not super – computer

Dr. Mouse

The point...

The point I was trying to make was not that the calculation was ambiguous from a programming point of view, as I know rules of precedence define this strictly (although these do vary at times between languages).

The point is just that it is one of my pet peeves, as it takes very little extra effort to add them, and saves a lot of effort in reading it. Also, you cannot be certain that a person knows the rules of precedence, or is following them the same as you.

Dr. Mouse

Please...

Either structure your equations in an easily -understandable way or use brackets.

So, do you mean:

194 = ( 4e6 / 14 ) * ( 4.2 / 3600 )

or:

194 = ( 4e6 / (24 * 4.2) ) / 3600 = 4e6 / ( 24 * 4.2 * 3600 )

or even:

194 = ( 4e(6/24) * 4.2 ) / 3600

I know I could figure it out by working through the calculation myself, but why should I?

Sorry, rant over. It just riles me when people don't make their equations or calculations clear, especially in programming (I know the orders of precedence are set in stone for a particular language, but a few brackets make the thing SO much easier to read!)

Debian 6: Have your Debian and eat your Ubuntu too

Dr. Mouse

I'm not sure...

exactly what you mean by this, but Debian has been able to upgrade in place for a long time.

I normally specify the version name (e.g. etch/lenny/squeeze/sid) in my repository sources, to make sure I don't accidentally upgrade, but if you specify "stable" then, when a new version comes out, all you need to do is "apt-get dist-upgrade" and it will upgrade everything*. All it would need is a reboot (or kexec) to load the new kernel and you are away. It's one of the things I have always loved about Debian, and why I run all servers on it (when I have the choice).

*When I say everything, there are occasions when it doesn't work, for example a package has been dropped from the new release. It sometimes needs a bit of care to do this, so doing a dry-run first is a good idea, as well as checking there are no configuration changes needed.

Google opens curtain on 'manual' search penalties

Dr. Mouse

Yep

I used to HATE that with a passion. For many search terms you had to go to page 3+ to find anything which was not a price comparison. An attempt to find the support page for a laptop, for instance, required me to try 6 different queries before it appeared on page 1, and then right at the bottom.

Sarkozy: Microsoft represents all that is great about France

Dr. Mouse
Joke

Or to Microsoft...

calling them a bunch of "Cheese-eating surrender monkeys"

Gov will pay £2.25m compo to ID card suppliers

Dr. Mouse

Hmmm...

The people who bought a card knew a different govt would scrap them, and knew they would not be compensated if that happened.

The companies involved also knew a different govt would scrap them, so ensured they would not be out of pocket by putting clauses in the contract to cover this eventuality.

To give you an example, I once took a 6-month contract with a company the other end of the country. To do this, I rented a flat, which required a 6-month lease. When negotiating my contract with the company, I made them put in a clause which would cover paying out the landlord if they got rid of me before the 6-month period. These clauses are fairly standard throughout business.

However, in this case I see a more sinister reasoning. Blunket negotiates a large cancellation clause as insurance for himself. He knows Labour is unlikely to win the next election. When they loose, and the next govt decides to scap the project, he can point out how much money the govt is spending just to get out of the contracts, quietly ignoring how much money will be saved by doing so.

Fort Wayne officials refuse to slap Harry Baals on public building

Dr. Mouse

So funny :)

"The city had thrown open the choice of moniker for its latest erection to the people"

Firefox 4 goes to 11 (betas)

Dr. Mouse

DNT header not useless...

...but it's only a start.

I think the main point of this is that it provides a starting point for a possible legal case.

In this situation, a person has turned on the DNT header, then (somehow) discovers that he is still being tracked.

In every transaction with every server, he is specifically telling the server "I do not give permission for you to track me". This is clear and direct. If the server ignores this, it is like a company ignoring the "don't use my details for marketing" tick-box on an application form. Therefore, a legal case may be able to be brought, which in turn would allow a precedent to be set (one way or the other).

The danger is that people may assume this header is being used by everyone straight away and give a false sense of security.

Big stink over Malawi farting ban

Dr. Mouse
Coat

Whoever said the rhyme...

... did the crime (quite literally!)

Mine's the one with the sound-proofing and air-tight seal.

BOFH: There's no 'I' in team, but there's a 'u' in suck

Dr. Mouse

He's back!

I was getting withdrawal symptoms!

Cheers Simon, top notch!

(I! seem! to! have! come! over! all! Yahoo! today!)

ISPs and Vaizey set to bump heads over default porn filter

Dr. Mouse

Beg to differ...

"It's got nothing to do with raising kids, or abrogating responsibility, and everything to do with being sensible. How many people use premium rate services as a proportion of the population ?"

I would say this has nothing to do with the argument.

Any "filtering" system which blocks access to legal content of any kind should be opt-in.

If you wish to have premium-rate numbers blocked on your phone, it should be up to you to ask for it. If you wish to have internet porn blocked on your connection, you should set it up. If you do not want your little girl playing with Barbie dolls because they "promote an unhealthy body image" (or some such reason), don't lobby the toy shop to stop selling them or place them in an out-of-the-way corner, it's not your place to dictate to others.