* Posts by Chemist

2677 publicly visible posts • joined 24 Mar 2010

Did NASA probe detect a KILLER GAMMA-RAY burst in Andromeda?

Chemist

Re: Retrocausality

"As it happens, GWs travelling faster than C is possible and they *might* affect certain unstable isotopes enough to detect, so anyone who has a radioactive decay setup should be back checking their data."

Suggest you post a (quality) ref. to this scientific 'breakthrough'

Watch: Kids slam Apple as 'BORING, the whole thing is BORING'

Chemist
Joke

"We are very close to the 2070s being closer than the 1970s"

Nom-inally !

You know all those resources we're about to run out of? No, we aren't

Chemist

Re: Now the only resource left to worry about

"been struggling to make gunpowder and nitrogen based fertilizer ever since"

Suggest you Google Nitric acid and Ammonia synthesis. Massive scale industrial processes, 10s of millions of tonnes annually (Ostwald & Haber ) that only use nitrogen, hydrogen to yield all the nitrates and nitrogen-based fertilizers you could want.

Guano is a very good source of phosphates but (from Wikipedia) "The importance of guano deposits to agriculture elsewhere in the world faded after 1909 when Fritz Haber developed the Haber-Bosch process of industrial nitrogen fixation, which today generates the ammonia-based fertilizer responsible for sustaining an estimated one-third of the Earth's population"

eBay slammed for daft post-hack password swap advice

Chemist

Re: Keepass...

"There are a bunch of companies that won't allow you to cut'n'paste into the password field"

Funny I'm having no trouble pasting a password into ebay using FF. I've had problems with other sites but the Crl-V usually works

Brits to vote: Which pressing scientific challenge should get £10m thrown at it?

Chemist

The Longitude Prize wasn't a scientific challange !

Unfortunately even the BBC seem to be suggesting it was.

The basic science of navigating by local noon was understood - the problem was a technological one i.e. producing a an accurate stable clock under seagoing conditions.

Some of the suggestions have no scientific backing - they are just a wish-list. For example it may might be possible,although unlikely in my view, to produce a an antibiotic that doesn't engender resistance but there is no clear science to suggest that.

Chap rebuilds BBC Micro in JavaScript

Chemist

Re: Good on him...

" it gives our species the edge over dolphins"

Whilst I agree with you the dolphins are better engravers ( of the grey glass bowls)

Microsoft throws Kinect under a bus, slashes Xbox One to $399

Chemist

Re: Not smart at all

If you want to play encrypted DVDs on a Linux machine just use VLC after making sure libdvdcss is available. libdvdcss is not always installed by default but is readily available.

Och aye! It's the Loch Ness Monster – but only Apple fanbois can see it

Chemist

As a great songwriter wrote :

"A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest..."

I suppose that at least was always true

Sorry London, Europe's top tech city is Munich

Chemist

Re: They Actually Make Things In Germany @ Squander Two

"Presumably largely covered by chocolate, watches and cookoo clocks!"

http://www.countriesquest.com/europe/switzerland/economy/manufacturing.htm

Esp. 3rd paragraph "world's largest producer of textile manufacturing machinery"

Chemist

Re: They Actually Make Things In Germany @ Squander Two

"Presumably largely covered by chocolate, watches and cookoo clocks!"

Er, no. Pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, engineering

Chemist

Re: @localzuk

"No, Britain does not manufacture nuclear reactors"

AFAIK Rolls-Royce does

http://www.rolls-royce.com/nuclear/submarine_nuclear_propulsion/index.jsp - their large gas-turbines power a good prop. of large airliners too

NSA denies it knew about and USED Heartbleed encryption flaw for TWO YEARS

Chemist

Re: Who Knew?

@ AussieCanuck46

" I wouldn't want my government to know that I'm a subversive."

Don't use your real name then !

OpenSSL Heartbleed: Bloody nose for open-source bleeding hearts

Chemist

Re: The real problem is C

"Pascal?

Pah, quiche eater..."

I think you'd be better with rosti-eater as Niklaus Wirth is Swiss and from the German speaking region

Apple says iOS, OS X is immune to Heartbleed SSL bug

Chemist

"My Red Hat derivatives and Debian are running 1.0.1e and the patches for that arrived pretty promptly."

Ditto for OpenSUSE

Microsoft: We've got HUNDREDS of patents on Android tech

Chemist

Re: I assume ...

" practically nothing accepts SD cards any more "

What ! - many cameras, videos - my Canon 450D and Panasonic HD1080p/50 video cameras for example.

Web data BLEEDOUT: Users to feel the pain as Heartbleed bug revealed

Chemist

Re: remote management?

"I've always wondered *why* anyone would need to remotely manage their home router?"

If they did want to they're likely to know to SSH into an internal machine and manage it from there.

Running OpenSSL? Patch now to fix CRITICAL bug

Chemist

Re: And this is why you cannot trust open source

"The thing is, to patch something you have to FIND it first. With paid software, you can pressure the company to conduct security audits and the like or threaten to move to the competition"

Oh, please ! That's worked so well with MS stuff

Chemist

OpenSUSE also available

Internet is a tool of Satan that destroys belief, study claims

Chemist

Re: So to be safe

"(Or so Douglas Adams tells us.)"

On this subject I can hear the Old Thrashbarg (Griff Rhys Jonesl) quote "One day old Thrashbarg said that Almighty Bob had declared that he, Thrashbarg, was to have first pick of the sandwiches."

Win XP usage down but not out as support cutoff deadline looms

Chemist

Re: New pc without OS

"So how easy it is now to buy a PC without any MS installed system?"

I bought a laptop in UK ~January without an OS, WIndows would have cost ~£60 more. OpenSUSE 13.1 installed in 7 mins without a hitch. This was a quad-core i7 with 8GB and a nice 1080 screen. Case is a little naff but otherwise everything works well. Just the Intel graphics but plenty fast enough for my purposes - will easily run 4 1080p/50 H264 videos simultaneously at ~15% CPU

£600 for 500GB version ( I save most stuff to a file server so I'm not bothered with SSD, with 8GB most programs I use regularly are in the cache anyway most of the time)

Tamil Nadu's XP migration plan: Go Linux like a BOSS

Chemist

Re: TheVogon

BTW

London borough to roll out Google Chromebooks to escape Microsoft's licensing costs

http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2337233/london-borough-to-roll-out-google-chromebooks-to-escape-microsofts-licensing-costs.

http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/public-sector/3509773/barking-dagenham-council-rolls-out-google-chromebooks-in-face-of-xp-deadline/

Chemist

Re: TheVogon

"It is unlikely to be a need to access "MS software" but to legacy applications that only run on [legacy] Windows."

Well I'd be guessing unless you have specific info. , but the point is they have most of their desktops on Linux and even AC can't seriously have us believe that only 20% of their staff do real work

Chemist

Re: TheVogon

"About 20% of those 'Linux' desktops still have to access Microsoft OSs / software via Citrix when they need to get real work done or want a version of Office that actually works."

So, that'd be 80% that don't all of the time and maybe 20% that might need some access to MS software

Too late, Blighty! Samsung boffins claim breakthrough graphene manufacturing success

Chemist

Re: The real difference

"So they take out patents on new drugs before they're ever made. "

It might happen but it's not legal

Microsoft in 1-year Windows XP survival deal with UK govt

Chemist

Re: Wasting taxpayer's money again

"They need Office and the likes of Endnote to get the papers written."

That's not science - that's an output of science. I suggest you look at CERNs computing systems to see large-scale use of Linux - both desktops and servers

Chemist

Re: Wasting taxpayer's money again

"Some of the equipment might be Linux, but not much"

NOT equipment - desktops !! - idiot

Chemist

Re: Wasting taxpayer's money again

"No, mostly Microsoft"

Allow me to know my trade - Linux is heavily used in the sciences as much heavy-duty software that ran on Unix, Sun and SGI migrated to Linux. That's protein modeling, hardware 3D visualization quantum mechanics in my case - and that's on the desktop. Compute servers and farms are also Linux

I think you esp. might have noticed the large number of Linux desktops Munich are using

.

Chemist

Re: Wasting taxpayer's money again

" chemists, and biologists."

They'd be probably using Linux at work then

Driver drama delays deep desert XP upgrade

Chemist

"Well, "just worked" after 3 hours of installing package A because package B depends on it, but finding that C only works with A version 3, which isn't compatible with the latest B so you have to download the beta B sources & recompil..."

After years of installing Linux on all sorts of hardware I've never had any problems such as you describe - just install a mainstream distro.!

Sticky Tahr-fy pudding: Ubuntu 14.04 slickest Linux desktop ever

Chemist

Re: Recompiling your kernel required...

"and don't want to have to recompile their kernel "

Let me repeat for the terminally stupid - NO NEED FOR MANY YEARS TO COMPILE A LINUX KERNEL

Chemist

Re: What's the point exactly?

" Does this actually happen under Linux? I'm running Windows."

Hard to compare with such a large range of hardware/desktops/GPUs

On this laptop 4-core i7 running OpenSUSE 13.1/KDE (but just the Intel graphics with some hardware support ) resizing this Firefox window gives a smooth view of the contents and the CPU kicks from <1% > ~15% but very briefly unless you jiggle the window size rapidly back and forth .

Running a 1080p/50 H264 video using vlc takes ~5% and jiggling that window around rapidly the cpu again runs to 15%.

Running 4 simultaneous 1080p/50 videos using vlc take ~15% BTW

Chemist

Re: Head to head @1Rafayal

" Linux fanbois are far more prevailent"

I agree, but some WIndows 'fans' are far more pernicious

Chemist

Re: Head to head

"What do you think it tells people when they keep seeing Linux users go on and on about Windows"

You mean like this tosh ?

"Windows wins. It is by far and a way the most stable and usable OS. Unlike Linux, Windows will run all your current software."

This on a thread about Linux

Chemist

Re: Head to head @1Rafayal

"I think there has been a slight case of fervent Linux fanboism on the Register for a while now."

Interesting that you see it that way. I see many posters ( or is it just one or two ACs) proclaiming that Windows is far superior whilst still seeming to need to rabidly attack Linux with the same old tired untruths. You know the sort of thing ... need to use the command line to install, need to compile the kernel, doesn't support X,Y or Z, is unstable.Only poor people, basement dwellers and people with BO problems use Linux. It all sounds desperate. I wouldn't use Windows myself but I hardly ever attack it

Now it may be only 1-2% of installed desktops but judging by the range of comments/contributors on The Register a much larger percentage of the people here use or support Linux - scientists/academics/engineers and programmers. Maybe we should have a poll about OSs.

(And maybe a poll about the excessive use of AC which makes following a thread and making sense of who you are replying to rather difficult)

Chemist

Re: Head to head

"So, it will will run all your current software then?"

Just to clarify : Linux runs all the software I currently use. I don't have a Windows computer - indeed only 1 of my 7 computers has ever had Windows installed. My latest laptop (4-core i7/8GB) was bought new recently free of an OS

About 25% of the programs I use ( those listed) are also available for Windows. This is a kind of a tortuous way of saying that if the programs listed are the ones you mostly use then you could be running them under Linux rather than WIndows

Chemist
Linux

Re: Head to head

"Windows will run all your current software"

It won't run any of mine unless you mean Windows versions of Firefox, Opera, GoogleEarth, Thunderbird, LibreOffice and The Gimp, VLC, Skype - mind that's quite a lot really, about 25% of the programs I use.

I'm only missing (snigger) IE, Office

GNOME 3.12: Pixel perfect ... but homeless

Chemist

Re: Big desktops

"And stop asking me if I want to "Leave ?" when I instruct you to shut down the system"

Well change the configuration then ! Configure Desktop- Startup&Shutdown-Session Management - untick "Confirm Logout"

Chemist

Re: Gnome?

"but all I really want is the one with a damn "Start" menu"

You want KDE then

Chemist

Re: Nope

@ Craigness

Well I did say at least in KDE - that's desktops for you. I was using FF BTW and dragging from the bookmarks menu

Chemist

Re: Nope

"my gran will never ever use Gnome (or anything Unixy/Linuxy for that matter"

Can your gran drag a bookmark from the browser to the desktop ? That will create an icon for launching the page of the bookmark or at least it will in KDE. How would your gran do it in Windows ?

Putin and pals dump Apple's iPads for Samsung slabs... over security concerns

Chemist

Re: At least one US President

"ix months on even I can't read what I wrote ;-)"

Ditto.

Interesting that your username is one of the names that 'Karla' is known by in TTSS

Microsoft issues less-than-helpful tips to XP holdouts

Chemist

Re: Install Linux

"But the unfortunate fact is as soon as you put Linux into the mass market of people who don't have beards and strong body odour,"

Well congratulations for mustering your gigantic intellect to put forward such a compelling argument.

( up to your usual standards BTW )

Chemist

"(if I have to drop to the command line and type in arcane commands to install or upgrade an app"

Why on earth would you need to use a command-line to install or upgrade a program ? You can do if you want but it's not necessary.

For example ( I use OpenSUSE 13.1/KDE ) Installing is via the GUIs Yast then Software Management and updates by Yast then Online Update. There is even another GUI option for installs/updates. They are in a nicely-behaved Start menu BTW

Chemist

"over come the learning curve before suffering from a loss of productivity. I imagine that it is this very thing that has kept them on XP so long"

I imagine that it's inertia or lack of interest in most non-business users

Microsoft exec: I don't know HOW our market share sunk

Chemist

Re: MS was a Cult...

"Only the most insane lunatics of the most depraved kind would force their staff to use Linux."

Like the French police, Munich council etc., etc.

Before I retired (And that's 6 years ago) we had hundreds of Linux Desktops (Dell dual Xeons) running RHEL at a major Pharma. We wanted them BTW

ZOMBIE iPAD PERIL? Cyberbadness slinger touts tool for iOS

Chemist

Re: Bitcoin miner on Linux?

"boxes are made up of hardware that is to old and underpowered to support anything else!"

I think you might be needed over on the following forum :

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2014/03/21/microsoft_sorgen_intelligent_devices/

"Just 22% of intelligent devices run Windows, 'can't put adjectives behind the why'"

They're all very critical of MS there !

(Written on my OpenSUSE 13.1 laptop 4-core i7/8GB)

Hidden 'Windigo' UNIX ZOMBIES are EVERYWHERE

Chemist

"THIS Android malware:"

Not an Android user but I don't understand this paragraph in their note

By late January 2014 Kaspersky Lab had accumulated about 200,000 unique samples of mobile malware, up 34% from November 2013 – two months earlier over 148,000 samples had been recorded. Cyber-scammers are continuing to focus their attention on Android mobiles: our report found that in January the number of malicious Android apps out there topped the 10 million mark.

Are they saying there are ~200,000 unique malicious apps each averaging 50 infections ?

Straight to 8: London's Met Police hatches Win XP escape plan

Chemist

Re: How about ....

"You can't run public services with linux desktops."

You are forgetting Munich, French police and rather a lot more

GRAV WAVE TSUNAMI boffinry BONANZA – the aftershock of the universe's Big Bang

Chemist

Re: "expansion of space briefly exceeded the speed of light "

"As it already says above "There is just no way of observing that from one object to the other...""

The two objects don't move apart at >c that's the whole point. 2 objects traveling at say 0.99c each mutually away from an observer at a point will still only see each other separating at <c.

The observer will see them traveling away from the starting point at -0.99c & 0.99c That's the kind of thing that makes relativity seem so counter-intuitive

If nothing with mass can reach c in any ref. frame then the observer can only see each object as moving with velocity less than c and the same applies to the objects whether they are moving away or towards each other.

Chemist

Re: "expansion of space briefly exceeded the speed of light "

"As it already says above "There is just no way of observing that from one object to the other...""

There is if the objects are closing