* Posts by some vaguely opinionated bloke

129 publicly visible posts • joined 19 Jan 2010

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WHITE WHALE spent 4 years trying to tell us something, then stopped

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Coat

Re: According to the BBC, the whale said...

"far from being afraid of us they actually seek 'us' out now, apparently to learn more about us"

Though their scientific advances in the understanding of humans is somewhat tempered by the unfortunate situation of being published in peer-reviewed journals that then fall apart when read by other whales, what with them being all soggy and stuff.

That horrendous iPhone empurplement - you're holding it wrong

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Pint

Re: Sorry

They don't, they're only capable of refreshing the phone parts that Carlsberg can't reach. Probably.

Haynes Build Your Own Computer book review

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Pint

Re: My favourite Haynes text....

Just as well you don't.

The last Haynes manual for the classic Mini had less than 1/8 of the information covering the gearbox than the edition released 15 years beforehand, yet the gearbox hadn't changed.

Most of the gearbox section said "you might be able to work out what's up with it, but just in case, take it to a Rover dealer", rather than still giving enough information to do a complete strip down and rebuild for less than a 1/4 of the price of a garage fitting an allegedly reconditioned gearbox.

<- pint of brewed beverage for the good ol' light blue 646, pint of poisoned acid for the dark blue pretender

Wikipedia collapses threatening the very fabric of civilisation

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Pint

@Brewster's Angle Grinder

"The nearest reference library to me is an hours drive away. (And then an hour's drive back.) "

Have an unsarcastic beer on me.

I have no idea why that made me laugh as much as it did. Just something about it clarifying that the route and typical traffic conditions are the same in both directions.

"It's a 45 minute drive before the morning rush hour and only 1/2 hour back when the schools are off or after 9 at night. If I leave the car there, it's closer to 3 hours, unless I take the shortcut across the misty heathland..."

Santander's banking website craps out

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Go

Re: U-CLOD does not begin with C

I got it, I understood the idea behind it and found it witty and appreciable.

However, and not wanting to get too far into a critique, I felt the need to comment as it was a bit like being asked the question "name a popular fruit" and responding with "Kevin"*.

It'd still be a witty and appreciable response, but somehow not quite in keeping with the suggestion that led to it.

* apologies to all the Kevins out there who are not popular fruits but think they should be and all the popular fruits out there who are not named Kevin but also think they should be, and all the Kevins who are popular fruits but wish they weren't named Kevin, weren't popular or weren't fruits.

some vaguely opinionated bloke
FAIL

Re: @TheAxe: New to IT?

Since posting, you may have realised that "U-CLOD" does not begin with C.

The touchscreens that push back, thanks to Brit hi-fi boffinry

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Joke

Excuse the puerility, but...

"recently signed a deal to embed one of their speakers into an iPad case created by a KickStarter project (the "onanoff")"

"the vibrational effect of the transducers could, potentially, make the concept of haptic feedback into a useful reality [for the onanist?]"

Descriptive Camera develops text instead of images

some vaguely opinionated bloke

"deaf people do... use telephones. For one-to-one conversations there is the textphone... or via BT's typetalk service"

To be a little pedantic the NTNON sketch used an analogue dial-faced telephone. Whether this was plain irony or they couldn't get hold of a textphone at the time, I'll leave you to decide 8-)

Ten... eight-bit classic games

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Stop

Re: Selection is a bit UK biased for BBC and Speccy

The letters O and M.

Handily viewed in your browser's address bar ;-)

Ten... Living Room Gadget Treats

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Thumb Up

Re: Bit pricey

"How about some guides on how to replicate some of these geeky things using bits that we might have lying around in sheds and garages."

Amen.

'As seen on TV' claims can't be made about unbranded props

some vaguely opinionated bloke

88% of discussions involving statistics include the statement that "x% of statistics are made up".

BMW recalls 1.3m motors over fire risk

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Thumb Up

Re: Could someone explain to me...

Yes indeed, except the Traveller/Countryman/Clubman Estate, that had them MGB-style under the back seat.

Still confuses people as you reverse up to them to jump-start their car...

Flintstones was (sort of) true: Mammals did well alongside dinosaurs

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Joke

Re: OH.....MY.....GOD

"... Bible scholars will tell you that the Hebrew word for day used in Genesis 1, can only mean an ordinary day in this context."

"We are told God created the first man and woman—Adam and Eve—on Day Six. Many facts about when their children and their children’s children were born are given in Genesis. These genealogies are recorded throughout the Old Testament, up until the time of Christ. They certainly were not chronologies lasting millions of years."

... so if days really were days, then years really were years, thus proving that Methuselah really lived for 969 years...

NASA snaps show Arctic melt

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Joke

Re: Your lack of observational skills proves nothing.

"So, you haven't noticed all the plant growing seasons starting earlier, the insects hanging around into the middle of the winter, the development of long late indian summers stretching well into november and other similar massive changes that have taken place since the '80s?"

That's weather, not climate.

Oceans gaining ACID faster than last 300 MILLION YEARS

some vaguely opinionated bloke

Re: so confused...

8.2 -> 8.1 is indeed becoming more neutral. However, those who choose to can say that this is - semantically at least - becoming more acidic as the value is moving from a position of negative acidity to a position of less negative acidity, in just the same way as someone else can say that the value is moving from neutral with alkaline tendencies to neutral with less alkaline tendencies.

Basically, it's changing, and that might be bad. Or might not. Who knows. Right now, I'm more concerned with trying to work out why I originally tried to use the non-word alkalic instead of alkaline.

Aus visual search start-up goes global

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Coat

Eats shoots and leaves

In the great tradition of Pen Island, Experts Exchange and Therapist Finder:

"I have an inflammation"

"Please show me"

"I can't, it's embarrassing, it's 'there'"

"Ah, sounds like you have 'thereitis' - take these pills, and don't visit that site again"

LOHAN flashes fantastical flying truss

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Joke

Re: Spinning

"Take a child's swing. Horizontal surface, suspended by ropes at each end. Give it a bit of a rotational shove, and look at the results."

One screaming kid tied up in chains, you 'orrible barsteward.

;-)

Lumpy nanoparticles improve thin film solar cells

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Coat

Re: Don't you just love rhetorical questions ?

Is this a rhetorical question..?

Space: 1999 returning to TV?

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Coat

Channel 9?

Bono Estente!

Mantanent, Los Squadios Chopperistos!

Ethethethethetheth, pethethethetheth, Boutros Boutros Gali!

Airport bomb Twitter joker in second fine appeal bid

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Headmaster

RTFA: Spart*i*cus (unless the correction has been accepted ;-) )

Anonymous releases law firm's emails about Haditha killings

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Joke

Yes...

... but only the naked ladies in the adverts, not necessarily the message they're conveying...

Kia Rio 1.1 CRDi EcoDynamics

some vaguely opinionated bloke

However...

... in my experience low rolling resistance tyres do not grip as well laterally as their more traditional counterparts, particularly in the wet.

Drink diet pop all the time? Look forward to VASCULAR DEATH

some vaguely opinionated bloke
FAIL

"its only just got past the drug companies censors"

... in the last 10 - 15 years...

Even before I found my way blinking and quivering onto this 'ere interweb thingy, someone at work passed round a leaflet all about Monsanto, their evil empire, aspartame and how it caused Gulf War Syndrome due to being left outside in the Kuwaiti heat and turning into cans of pure formaldeyhde.

The censors have obviously been far more active round your neck of the woods...

Now, where's that last can of Diet Coke gone..?

Stab victim protected by Bulgarian airbag

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Joke

Dr Frank Filiberto

"specialiast Dr Frank Filiberto" specialiases in what, exactly?

Flag-waving Lego Canuck soars to 80,000ft

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Go

@Fake Ninja

All I can offer you is a suggestion to compare the surname of the founder of Virgin and the original poster's attempt at the surname of the founder of Virgin. For further context, should it be needed, a visit to hereabouts: www.bringoutthebranston.co.uk may help.

MPAA threat sparks White House petition for bribery probe

some vaguely opinionated bloke

Please clarify:

Did you mean "Why should the government allow the MPAA to influence law when [the MPAA have] been affiliated with organized crime since the 1960s?"

Or did you mean "Why should the government allow the MPAA to influence law when [the government have] been affiliated with organized crime since the 1960s?"

Parasites spark swarm of zombie bees

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Coat

"Sir, sir, D-A-M used the banned m-word sir!"

What, "mighty"?

Official: File-sharing is a religion... in Sweden

some vaguely opinionated bloke

"I couldn't begin...

"... to guess who's getting the money now".

L Ron still is, of course. Lo, he enjoys semi-eternal life after his "death" and is sat at the right side of Elvis, 'pon the Moon. Or some such.

KIBOSH 'non lethal' sticky-bomb hits a car, fills it with gas

some vaguely opinionated bloke

I always spelt it with a Y...

... whenever I have spelt it - which isn't often - with the theory that KYBOSH as a word is a backronym for "Knock Yer Block Off, Shit Head".

This obviously doesn't make much sense when using it in the context of "putting the knock your block off shit head on something", but does sort of fit when used in the context of "if you don't shut up, I'll kybosh".

I did hear - and use - the the word long before hearing the backronym however my usage of the term has mostly been in the former context, with occasional latter context usage.

The specific backronym above may be related to a kids TV program called "Knock Your Block Off" in which opposing children would attempt to punch through or knock down a wall between them and their opponent; within the show (and I seem to recall within the Radio Times) this was abbreviated to KYBO. But that's just my theory.

Fuel taxes don't hurt the world's poor - they don't have cars

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Coffee/keyboard

Up the socialists!

"places like Cuba and various South American countries have all seen vast improvements in literacy and healthcare for the poor under socialist regimes... pretending that it does nothing at all for the poor is just blatantly false."

So now that literacy and healthcare are vastly improved, the poor can be poor for longer, and be able to write about being poor.

Woo.

Scientists probe Earth's core, make mystifying discovery

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Boffin

"Extreme boffinry"?

"(comparatively) humdrum lab work". Whilst jumping out of a plane. Blindfolded. On a surf board. Now *that* would be Extreme Boffinry.

Wait til Red Bull get to hear of this, there'll be lab coats aplenty fluttering down all over the place. The bigger problem of course will be the length of rubber tube needed for Bunsen burners.

(Goggles, yes please, number 5 shade minimum, ta)

Jaguar recalls over 17,600 X-types in the UK

some vaguely opinionated bloke

"I find my current car impossible to restart without actually removing the key"

Bummer if you stall it then?

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Joke

"I do use the indicators though"

To signal change of direction, or to hang articles of clothing?

UK CB radio crowd celebrates three decades of legality

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Thumb Up

"Going on for twenty years ago some friends an I were going on a long road holiday in some old cars and wanted a way to stay in touch."

There are quite a few of us (still in Minis) who still do the same thing. Makes it handy for comms between club members during those long trips to shows, or getting directions from the lead car when travelling from LE to JOG.

And the peeps are even fewer and further apart.

Last mystery of first recorded supernova laid to rest

some vaguely opinionated bloke
WTF?

Maybe another celestial object instead

"Halley's appearance in 12 BC, only a few years distant from the conventionally assigned date of the birth of Jesus Christ, has led some theologians and astronomers to suggest that it might explain the biblical story of the Star of Bethlehem. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley%27s_comet#Apparitions

(disclaimer: wikifact and IANAC)

Man 'drinks 2 pizzas' before skidding off road

some vaguely opinionated bloke
WTF?

Indeed. The opportunities are to "snackificationalize" and "drinkificationalize".

This is just another instance of corporate disgustingificationalizationizing.

Voda in 3G blackhole probe by ASA

some vaguely opinionated bloke

HTC by any chance?

Collapsing cranes and cantankerous cars

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Coat

"Hidden Valley Motor Sport Complex"

... obviously not very well hidden if they've built a motor sport complex there...

Gigantic KRAKEN fingered in prehistoric murder mystery

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Joke

Perhaps...

... the Kraken to which the arrangement should be credited has never been found in fossilised form because...

... it's still alive and out there somewhere...

Facebook to scrub itself clean of filthy malware links

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Alien

There are people behind the curtains! My Rice Crispies told me so...

Fair enough, have a go at Google for recording everything about each and every link you click on in their quest for global domination, but I'd be surprised if sites like Facebook don't already analyse clicks on each link out of their site.

When clicking on most external links you're already passed through their handy URL redirect scripts, which are probably compiling huge lists of external visited links for later cloudy processing.

This would already allow Facebook to get to know what is most likely to take people away from Facebook and they probably already know what each Facebook user is most interested in.

If anything, this will just be business as usual (analysis of links) with an added "safety layer" on top (link validation). Hardly the stuff of conspiracy theory or paranoia.

Apple TV owners lost legal movie playback this weekend

some vaguely opinionated bloke

"Sorry no. You have obtained a license to be able to play it any time you wish"

Like at the weekend, perhaps, when despite purchasing a license to be able to play it any time you wish, you weren't able to play it.

There may be a crossover argument that, as you own the medium on which the film is stored then you do own the stored film, but you can't watch it without a combination of the license (as purchased) and the DRM servers (as should be available at all times so you *can* play it any time you wish).

Personally I haven't bought any Apple TV boxes, let alone immediately or eventually rooting any or indeed installing XBMC. Consequently I have none of them to be used purely to play downloaded DRM-removed copies of movies off my home NAS boxes.

Facebook security profiling doesn't like African log-ins

some vaguely opinionated bloke
FAIL

You've been beaten to it...

"Raj... engineered a workaround by setting up a VPN so that Sam's IP address matched his in Vancouver"

Engineering student cracks major riddle of the universe

some vaguely opinionated bloke

There's also the issue of...

... emissions. Imagine catturds at 500rpm.

Ofcom pricks Shard's 'biggest erection' boast

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Coat

You may be thinking of...

... the wrong moor. I have it on good authority that ducks do not play football on Emley Moor.

Ee, coat, wer 'ast thee bin since a saw thee?

David Davis: Jobless should dig trenches for fat UK pipes

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Coat

The BT spokeswoman said...

"We're currently passing 80,000 premises a week"

I bet that'd make your eyes water...

Porn found in Osama bin Laden compound

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Coat

Not to put too fine a point on it...

... but the point is that even with 3 wives, he possibly *would* have time whenever the decorators were in.

Yes please, the one with wings...

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Boffin

I've heard tell...

... that ladies living in close proximity tend to become synchronised...

New double-barrelled Taser unveiled

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Stop

Not that I dispute your claim...

... and at the moment I don't, but do you happen to have:

- a source for the figure of "More than 500 people have died immediately after being tasered"?

- something a little more concrete than "it's safe to say that probably at least"?

- some record of "influence[d] medical examiners"?

I'm no supporter of taser deployment myself, but I'd like to see some more evidence for the above.

Death threats against 'worst song ever' YouTube teen

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Welcome

Extra I, for one...

... am still trying to work out whether the Anaheim PD now have an officer with both eyes out, or whether we should be welcoming our new thrice-oculared overlords...

Channel Islands VAT loophole shut, petrol prices cut

some vaguely opinionated bloke
Thumb Up

Ditto...

No option to commute by train.

Bicycle possible but then that's not public transport unless I "borrow" someone else's.

Workplace is 4 miles from home depending on route.

Commute by car: 20 mins per day

Commute by bus: 140 mins per day using 2 buses, 10 mins walk in between

Costs by car: £7 per week *

Costs by bus: £4.20 per day **

* fuel only, based on self-calculated cold running MPG. I'm deliberately not including vehicle excise duty, insurance or maintenance as I'd still own and run the car even if I commuted by bus

** to be fair a weekly ticket would "only" cost £10, but that would make the difference in costs less sensationalist

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