Posts by JimmyPage
862 posts • joined Friday 5th March 2010 16:20 GMT
Posted in UK sight-loss charity sues BMI
So I get downvoted for ?
Not agreeing that disabled people should stfu and be happy with their lot ? Or did I get downvoted because someones a twat and can't read very well.
Posted in Boffins make graphene micro-distillery
Waters weird
as I vaguely recall from 30 years ago. You'd *think* it would be ionically bonded, but IIRC it's actually weakly covalent, which is why it has some odd properties which are essential to life (why do you think the first indication of life astrobiologists use is liquid water). Also remember the "anomalous expansion of water "as it cools through 4C ?
Indeed
and such a (well warranted) correction highlights my point. "Dependence" *can* be a feature of addiction, but is in no means a *defining* feature.
To return to my bugbear, of benzodiazepienes ... they create a truly frightening dependence. They lead the brain into supressing the production of a neurotransmitter, GABA. Sudden withdrawal leads the brain without this essential chemical, and can lead to siezures and (not unheard of) death. All medical advice is to NEVER STOP taking them, once you are hooked. But hey, must be better than getting high[1].
One use of benzos is to control muscle spasms (which lead to intense pain) in MS. However, a quick spliff is 10x as effective, and much less damaging.
Or indeed
windows remote desktop ?
Tricky question
"Addictive" is a moveable feast (which is one trick the prohibitionist lobby use to scare the public ...). There are different elements of "addiction", none of which the average man in the street knows about.
Food is physically addictive. Without it, you die.
Nicotine is physically and psychologically addictive. It's continued use can be shown to create physiological changes which cause the body to react to withdrawal. Same for alcohol.
Cannabis is, if anything, psyychologically addictive. Users like it, but withdrawal causes no appreciable physiological effect.
I'm not a pharmakineticist, but would hazard that psilocybin is not addictive in any meaningful sense of the word.
Of course the real question which gets dodged, should be "what, if any, are the risks of addiction".
Personally I am sick to the back teeth of the shite science peddled in the name of the "war on drugs", by a hypocritical government. My wife is addicted to benzodiazepienes, thanks to doctors (who would knock a spliff out of your hand) dishing them out like smarties. And when I say "addicted" I mean it. Sudden withdrawal runs a very real risk of death.
There was a very good article in the Graniud a few years ago, posing the very good question: "Why is it so bad to get high ?". It asked why doctors are so scared to use medicines which get you high, when they are happy to prescribe medicines which can make your life hell (anyone on Chemo will know). Nauseau, drowsiness, digestion problems, headaches, hair loss, libido loss ....
Originally
the idea was that the jury DID know the defendant, and were there to vouch for his character.
Funny old world, innit ?
Stick to making just the panels
which can then be hooked up to a media centre, which can do the IP bit (like my TiVo). Less chance of punters being stuck with an outmoded IPTV which you discover 2 years down the line isn't as future-proof as the man in the shop said.
They already have ....
certainly my YouTube account suddenly became welded to my Google account, because I had created both with the same email address.
You can bet how this would have been reported
if *employees* had got together to try and leverage wages .....
Hmmmmm
"dozens of trials that have attempted to confirm the existence of a G-spot using surveys, pathologic specimens, various imaging modalities, and biochemical markers."
Maybe, just maybe, they weren't going about this the right way?
Posted in Mornington Crescent
@Aaron Em
But you could just as easily play your own version - after all, why do you think Manhatten was laid out that way ? In fact, now I come to think of it, I'm sure a lot of movies set in New York are subtly playing anyway.
"Broadway and 43rd".
Posted in Mornington Crescent
I refer my learned colleague
to "NF Stovold’s Mornington Crescent: Rules and Origins"
Posted in Mornington Crescent
Mornington Crescent
Following my own suggestionHere's the thread for Mornington Crescent ...
Monument
Well done gentlefolk
I know I was reading El Reg in 1998 .... have no idea when you persuaded me to sign up (I could check my profile I guess, but CBA).
Anyway, congratulations on (in the main) keeping me informed, and entertained, in a uniquely British way.
Posted in Welcome to the latest forum features
Vague daydream
start a thread just for playing Mornington Crescent for testing HTML tags ....
Earls Court
Shopping centre near me ....
is almost a poster child for the Naughties ....
Alders
Woolworths
Millets
T J Hughes
Past Times
Peacocks
plus any number of there-for-six-months-then-gone-on-monday stores ...
And I really can't see Debenhams making it to 2014
If you are an El Reg regular
Amazon are already planning ways to accomodate you ...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/08/retailer_launches_click_and_collect_in_uk_and_us/
Interesting difference in the sexes
from personal observation ...
men love gadgets, and drive the "shiny new" market,
Women are much less swayed by "shiny new", and respond more to the *relevant* and *demonstrated* potential.
Case in hand - my wife. We're not flush, so every penny spent needs to be justified. Hence, no matter how "shiny new" things are, I can't justify them, so they go unbought.
Come last year, when we are attending a medical appointment for her, and are given a choice of dates ... I whip out my work phone, and check upcoming diary, create an appointment.
"Don't forget to put it in your work calendar when we get home" says Mrs.
"No need it syncs automatically" say I.
"Really ?" says Mrs JP. "How ?"
So I explain about online calendars, WIndows live, smartphones ... result. She wanted one THERE and THEN. And now has one.
The thing is, I suggested this 18 months ago, to a general "uh huh". When I reminded here of this (and at least she was gracious enough to admit it) she said she "couldn't understand how it would benefit her" ... it needed a practical example to underscore what I was saying.
Same with online shopping !
Am I alone
in taking this story as evidence that Iran is managing to become a fairly ordered society ? Surely a good thing ? (Not that anyone called Saddam Shirley).
It was resting on top of
A stack of Des O'Connor LPs*
*Under 35s, ask your parents.
I would have thought the main reason
would have been to prevent the rest of us getting bored.
Why a separate duress password
I know ADT alarm systems will trigger a panic mode if you enter the PIN backwards.
Or maybe they just haven't tried hard enough
Idea:
person chooses 3 famous people from a list of thousands.
person is challenged by system which shows a grid with (say) 100 photos of people in
person has to pick 2
almost, but not entirely secure - and much easier to remember.
It did say
"former" .....
So what you're saying
is that the customer should change their network to accomodate Virgins borked hardware ?
Is it just me, or could there be a revolution in the offing ..
Haven't been following this story too closely, till now ... but seeing the spec and price of this beastie makes me wonder how many uses there are out there, which we haven't even throught of yet. The ability to plug a fully-specced *programmable* computer into anything is going to change a lot of things. With local-level processing now available to any peripheral, how much bandwidth can be saved, and networks improved ?
Slightly OT
but anyone running a team, would do a lot worse than having a pizza & beer night for your guys, with a showing of "Apollo 13"
Now THAT is teamwork.
Here's another one ...
how come you can't bluetooth a contact to another phone, in WP7 ?
Anyone care to defend that ?
Posted in Netflix goes live in Blighty
nail - head !!!!
*I* wouldn't pay for it
*You* wouldn't pay for it
which means the film companies have (YET AGAIN) driven people towards "other sources"
Which I find ironic, given the story last week, in El Reg
http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2012/01/04/study_piracy_legal_alternative/
It will probably be
more a case of a shit routing algorithm, which bases it's calculations on simply using the roads posted speed limit, rather than a more real-life database. Which explains why my Garmin directs me along a myriad of country lanes to get from my house to the motorway, despite the fact I can do it on 2 main roads - because it *thinks* I can do 60mph on them, which makes them "faster" than the 40mph (but 1mile longer) route I do take.
Last year, I had to drive from London, N11, to Birmingham. Sat Nav told me quickest route was 2 1/2 hours along the A1/M1/M25->M40->M42. I did it, without speeding in 2 hours by going A40-M40->M42 because I know that's the best route at 10:30pm on a Sunday .....
Posted in Netflix goes live in Blighty
To those complaining about selection ...
I suspect you'll find it's not Netflix fault, it's the film companies restricting what's available - probably to try and maximise revenue from the sales of physical media. Old dog, new tricks etc ....
Posted in Netflix goes live in Blighty
Remember the discussion about Windows Phone ?
Here's what I mean :
"The company said it has playback client for Android and iOS phones ...."
Er
I have had the phone over a year now - hardly a "newcomer" in IT terms.
And notice, I have no grumble with WP7 per se (in actual fact, I quite like it). But when I can't get an Amazon, Chiltern Railways, Lloyds TSB, iPlayer app for it, whilst android and iOS users can, then it sucks. And it seems other people where I work agree too. I notice the next batch of smartphones being trialled are all android - with the MD himself signing off any extra cost.
That said, I *did* just load up the TiVoRemote app to play with at home, so there might be a chance !
Doomed to failure
I suspect the slow uptake of WP7 has nothing to do with it not being marketed or pushed by retailers properly.
It's the fact that 10 times in the past 30 days, I have been told by various websites they have an app available, only to discover they don't have a WP app. Which means the HTC Trophy I *have* to use for work (their security policy) is starting to look like a fancy paperweight.
I would not be surprised if Microsofts strategists are all so young, they don't recall what did for Betamax ......
And once again, I am going to bewail the lack of a call-recording app. Especially when an acquaintance in t'pub showed me there are at least 6 available on his android phone. So please, no mindless downvoters, wittering on about "the law" .....
ROTFLMAO !
I was going to point out that a reverse feature - using continued low speeds as a sign the user is *not* in a car - might cause problems in the UK in rush hour. But then I thought "nobody would be THAT stupid".
I own a Garmin too !
However
surely, it would be trivial to include a bit of code which checks the motion of the Sat Nav corresponds with a walking pace, and either warns the user, or simply changes mode to "Car" ?
Sorry epic fail
the great and good can pontificate all they like, but since the only way anything will change is when the old data gets replaced by the new, nothing is going to happen anytime soon.
Just as I never bought a new road atlas every year, I don't buy map updates every year (especially when they cost as much as Garmin charge). And neither, do I suspect, do 80% of sat-navvers out there.
During the week, I would say that at least 20 cars drive down my cul-de-sac and have to turn round, and leave, because the postcode centroid for the university the other side of the garden happens to be outside my house. I even had someone ring my bell once, asking where the University was, and calling me a liar when I said it was "over there", insisting their sat nav must be right.
Highly amused
that, in the 21st century, people seem to think you actually need to *be* somewhere. Maybe that's part of the problem ?
Fascinating debate ...
which slightly (to me) misses the point.
Content providers (previously known as record comanies, and film studios) were well aware of the nature, and demand for digital content well over 10 years ago. Their customers told them of it, and requested it, and were basically told to **** off. By failing to engage with the market, and therefore shape it to *consumers* wishes, they have effectively been bitchslapped. We have seen wave after wave of laws, and regulations, and dodgy civil, and criminal suits for what ?
Wasn't there an initiative a while back
to sedate rhinos, and replace the horn (which is actually matted hair) with big shiny metal prosthesis - thus frustrating the poachers ?
Does anyone recall when Flasheart crashed in on Blackadder ?
"Excuse me, there's a bucket I have to be sick into" ("Private Plane", Blackadder goes Forth)
we need a "heave" icon.
ISTR
the reason the NoTW outsourced the dirty work (apart from obvious fact of plausible deniability) is some tech-heads ran the op ... didn't they use proxied VOIP calls to access the voicemail. This allowed them to spoof CLI (and thus trick the service into going into voicemail) ....
and then
he can get a 25K/year job at GCHQ.
Epic fail
in 99% of the time, you'll snap the innocent patsy who *bought* the stolen phone.
Sorry MS
Chrome rocks. I really can't find anything to dislike about it.
Don't blame Amazon
shortly after getting my Kindle, I was gobsmacked to see certain eBooks were actually more expensive than the dead-tree version, even after taking the VAT into account.
A quick email complaint later get the reply that minimum prices are set by the PUBLISHER and Amazon is obliged to honour those. It concluded by inviting me to complain to the publishers ...
Indeed
I liked this quote:
"Meanwhile, French president Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday commissioned former culture minister Jacques Toubon to lobby France’s 26 European Union partners, the European Commission and Parliament to introduce a reduced VAT rate for all electronic cultural goods and services sold across the EU."
Somehow I can guess which way the UK will vote.
