Posts by David Pollard

The Orion Project Reloaded

This overunity energy generation has much of the look and feel of Steven Greer's proposals to solve the world's problems, which probably attracted a good few dollars in its heyday.

http://www.theorionproject.org/en/

The 29th century?

We'll have to hope that they are running a recruitment programme. Bruce Willis might not be available.

What does Verity have to say about this?

The can be but few in El Reg's readership who are not now eagerly awaiting Ms Stob's analysis.

See, e.g.,

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/13/verity_stob_open_university/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/14/verity_stob_further_eduation/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/18/verity_stob_pgpdip/

Nominative determinism?

"The current record distance for the caliber is a 2.43km shot achieved in March 2002 by Corporal Rob Furlong ..."

Obligatory xkcd

http://xkcd.com/1361/

Steelie Neelie claims "public interest"

The benefits of increased competition, so often touted as a reason to support the European dream, are rather swiftly ignored as soon as there is even a mild threat to profits.

But would sales of wine really be affected by a change of domain name suffix? Do many people even notice what a site's URL when they have put [wine], or whatever, into Google Shopping? And wouldn't the serious producers be using .fr or .it etc., or .com, in any case, while the serious buyers would mostly be going on the basis of reputation.

Obligatory xkcd

http://xkcd.com/1372/

There's big money in home and health data

Sainsbury's are after a slice of this data too, using a somewhat different angle. At the pharmacies in their large stores they are offering free advice about prescriptions. As part of this service customers are asked to sign a consent form which allows Sainsbury's to contact their GP; and obviously they store the data.

There will be more ploys to persuade people to use facilities which allow harvesting of their personal health data in coming months and years.

It' s obvious really

Given the puzzling and sometimes contradictory results we must conclude that further research is required in order to resolve the anomalies that have been discovered by the present work.

How big?

6.3 uWh per mm^3 is 6.3 kWh per m^3, if I'm doing the sums right. So for running a car, which to be useful needs something like 25 kWh capacity, this would take up about four cubic metres plus connections and case etc.. It looks as though there is still some way to go, though it might be on target for regenerative braking, power tools and similar applications.

Scientology?

Didn't L. Ron Hubbard spend quite a bit of time on Venus and head off there when he became immortal?

Sugar-infused fluff?

The sugar is probably the least of our worries. Take a look with your favourite search engine at the various emulsifiers, extenders and so-called improvers that are added to industrial bread.

It's small wonder that increasing numbers of people suffer from coeliac disease and gastrointestinal disorders.

Healthwatch.co.uk

Healthwatch was set up not so long ago to provide feedback from the public on health matters. Whether they really do this or are there simply to act as a buffer and keep complaints at bay I don't know, but if enough people contact them and make representations to their local offices then it might have some effect.

Mangle an old electric toothbrush

They charge the battery via a transformer in the base, and it should be possible to get two or three watts through this with reasonably efficiency. Such toothbrushes lift off their stand easily enough.

To measure the temperature a non-contact thermostat can be rigged up with an LED/photodetector pair and a small mirror on a bi-metal strip, perhaps also using a couple of lengths of fibre-optic to allow the electronic bits to stay inside where it's warm.

Shut down quack medicine too

My own experience with NHS Direct was a bit dismal, so I won't mourn its closure. It's a pity though that a whole host of bogus and quack medicine sites can't be closed as well.

Was Cecilia from the PR department at Chambers?

Perhaps Jonathon Green's three volume dictionary of slang isn't selling quite so well these days in the face of urbandictionary.com. So an agent has been sending provocative emails in the hope of getting editorial mention that it is available online to subscribers and that there is also an abridged single volume edition in addition to his seminal work, 'Crooked Talk: Five Hundred Years of the Language of Crime.'

Just in case it wasn't already clear ...

This might help to illustrate how inconvenient it can be when the gas is turned off.

Does this mean ...

... that I can keep XP?

Tuff? When I were a lad ...

... there were a lass on't Reg forum by't name a Sarah Bee. She'd sort 'em an' noa mistake.

What did HMRC have to gain?

Why did they let Goldman Sachs off? Is it a bit like local councils and favourable planning permission decisions, where non-executive directorships are said to be handed out as post-retirement rewards?