* Posts by JDX

6847 publicly visible posts • joined 28 May 2010

Google hires top US traffic fed for driverless cars project

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Re: The real obstacle

It's a potential PR disaster, BUT if they can get v1.0 to be demonstrably safer than people, hopefully they'll be able to avoid knee-jerk panics.

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Re: Sweepstake

"Not having to drive" is not the reason most use the bus.

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Sweepstake

On how long before someone claims "they might be fine on boring freeways but they won't be able to handle normal roads"?

Quantum crypto - with nothing more than STANDARD broadband fibre

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Re: So its a lock in detector with a 100ps window.

Pretty amazing - on first read it sounds too good to be true!

Oprah Winfrey too late to save Microsoft's Windows 8

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Re: Windows 8 launch hasn't gone as expected for the world's largest software maker.

I am part of the nerd minority... you missed my point entirely which is that claiming "everyone" had expectations the way you feel personally when you are in a minority group is just bloody stupid/arrogant.

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Re: The kind of people who care....

I think you mean Oprah, but Opera is equally irrelevant to society and IT purchasing.

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Re: Windows 8 launch hasn't gone as expected for the world's largest software maker.

By 'everyone' you mean a tiny minority of people who post on nerdy forums? I doubt my mum has any expectations either way...

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Nobody buys an OS for Xmas

There is a massive distinction between Windows8 and Surface. The former is a desktop OS - people don't rush out to buy an OS or a new PC with a new OS.

As for Surface, MS basically said it is a prototype or proof of concept rather than a mainstream product. We need to wait for other manufacturers to release their take on it.

On the other hand, the phones are released (right?) and sound pretty nice but is anyone buying them?

Glorious silicon globes could hold key to elusive PERFECT kilogram

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Re: @Craig 2

It's not about having a perfect kilogram. It's about making sure measurements can be made consistently.

'The People's' cell operator to offer expensive data - but it's for cheridee

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Re: blah blah charity blah blah

So the fact that those arguments are all valid doesn't matter? To you it's simply about the money - if you can't get your grubby mitts on my cash then I'm a fraud if I don't simply admit 'I don't want to' as the reason?

I have no interest in paying you to wander around with a bucket, why don't you get a proper job? I'd rather give my money to a charity who spend it on the cause, not people like you.

How much of your money do you give to the charity? Or are you exempt... remember "please don't try to dress it up as some noble protest."

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Re: Im actually kind of against charities

So we should pay more tax then? Thanks!

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Or you know...

...you could just give to charity directly.

Ten Linux apps you must install

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Re: Only 2: GParted and Libre Office

Why would an average computer user need emacs or vi? This article is for normal people using Linux, not developers.

US paper spaceplane disintegrates at 107,000ft

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Unless we know how long it takes to go up an additional 5-10 thousand feet, it's hard to say if this was a silly oversight.

Windows Phone 8 reboot woe causes outpouring of forum misery

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I've seen this on my WP7.5 Lumia 610, but probably once a month at most.

However since iPhones can crash and I assume Android phones do, is this simply a case of modern phone OS being too complicated? I don't remember 'dumb' phones doing this.

Mozilla needs to find alternatives to the Google umbilical

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>>Perhaps work out a way that they can both use the same plugin API

They do; it's called NPAPI and is the standard API used by every browser except IE which uses ActiveX. Although maybe when you're talking about apps you don't mean quite the same thing... but I don't see why we need 'apps' in a browser - isn't that called a website?

Boss wrong to demote man over anti-gay-marriage Facebook post

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Re: Everyone should be allowed to be 'married'

>>Why do a bunch of 'old blokes in frocks'. have the right to deny people the first option?

Because it's their building.

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Re: These comments are crap

It was tongue-in-cheek...

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Re: Well make it Polyandry to make it fair for all involved...

Saying something is old-fashioned just to suggest it's wrong is disingenuous.

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Re: Just a thought....

A church that disowns you for being gay doesn't understand what it is supposed to be preaching. It is quite possible to be gay, in a church which doesn't condone gay relationships, without being disowned or despised.

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Mad yakker

>>How come these things are conveniently forgotten by people saying that the bible says that 'homosexuality is wrong'?

There are 2 answers.

1)Those were specific laws to the Jews, which were outmoded under the new covenant thanks to Jesus... Levitical laws in particular are normally considered to fall into this category

2)It is correct that the bible does not say one type of sin is worse than another, so in away you're right... gay sex is not worse than thieving or adultery or lustful thoughts.

You should note though that the claim shouldn't be "homosexuality is wrong", but "acting on homosexuality is wrong"... in the same way that sex with someone you're not married to is not right, but sex itself is not bad or wrong in any way.

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Re: The conclusion being ....

If they fired him for breaking their policies on equality, I could buy that. But docking his salary while keeping him employed makes no sense.

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These comments are crap

I guess people just can't decide who to hate on with so many options... Facebook, Christians, corporate idiots, interfering busybodies... and they're worried having a go at one might in some way seem like implicit support the others.

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Re: Polygamy

No, it WAS permitted early on in the bible, and was then forbidden.

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Re: Interesting this one...

I've read the bible and while it seems on a superficial level to be anti-gay, a deeper study makes this seem less clear-cut. Nowhere does it seem to be pro-gay but it can be argued it doesn't tackle the issue - it can further be argued that the very notion of sexuality as we understand it now simply didn't exist back then.

I've recently watched a 1-hour in depth lecture on this and 'hazy' is a reasonable description of how he made it appear.

Facebook: Give us your credit card and pals' addresses as GIFTS

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Could actually be quite handy

I don't know the addresses of ANY of my friends off-hand. A lazy way to buy a gift for someone without even having to look up their address could be quite cool... e.g if I could go to play.com or Amazon and just pick a FB friend as the recipient, or even automatically see their wish-list without having to find which "John Smith" wish-list I need.

It sounds a lot more a sensible way to monetise the site than paying to promote your posts, that's for sure. A Facebook integration that actually solves a problem.

Avira antivirus patched but still not fully Windows 8 ready

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Re: MSE

Yes I know. It was part of W7 too. But that wasn't my question - on W7 MSE is pretty good but is that still the case in W8?

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How have MS' own security tools (Firewall and MSE) fared in W8/2012? Presumably they also needed rewriting?

Another Microsoft Trojan? Sinofsky might just want a RIM job

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Windows to make own phone

Will that be called the Windows Phone Phone?

Should Microsoft merge Office into Windows - or snap it off?

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Flame

Re: Here are some suggestions that would surely get Ballmer mad...

They'd release a Linux version if people would buy it - they have Mac Office but that's as far down the unpopular OS route as they want to go. Why bother writing Office for Linux when hardly anybody uses it as their primary desktop OS and Linux users are all freeloaders anyway.

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Hello Lawyers

Hmmm... using a desktop monopoly to push your own office software. If MS aren't allowed to give me a free browser, this seems pretty unlikely.

Opera site served Blackhole malvertising, says antivirus firm

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Which country is Opera popular in then?

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simply by firing up the popular alternative browser software

Since when is Opera popular outside of mobile? Opera is about as popular as Windows Phone 7.

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Except when the browser itself has a vulnerability.

GoDaddy puts gratuitous sexy pics on IT content

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Re: What the internet is about

I tried Jane: clothing stores

I tried Sarah: a wikipedia article about a bible character

I tried Jenny: a Flight of the Conchords video

Nothing dodgy even in image search that I could see.

Fart-buster underpants selling well among Japanese salarymen

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If you stick them up your arse? I guess I can see how the close-woven grid could act as a filter...

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Re: Reminds me of an odd australianism

Down under?

Nazi Enigma encoding machine sells in London for over £80k

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Re: Nothing too wrong with the security of the code

The version in general production pre-war (used for banks, etc) was significantly simpler than the versions (they had several variations) used by the Nazis. They added extra wheels and various electronic doodads.

Facebook stock plunge halts - despite insiders being freed to sell

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Re: Alternatively

Many dotcoms have gone massive. Besides nobody is criticising FB because they're a dotcom, but simply because they're FB. THAT is putting personal taste before business.

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FAIL

Re: Alternatively

Blah blah blah Facebook users are stupid, therefore Facebook investors are stupid because it's linked to Facebook.

You must clearly be stupid too because your post contained the word Facebook. Oh no, now I am too.

Automatic Facebook couple pages: Nauseating sign of desperation

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Re: Contempt for users = destined to fail

People have been saying that since FB had about 1 million users. They said the same about eBay too.

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@TRT

So you're upset because they assume you're normal?

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Re: What if . . .

But IIRC you can only select one person to have an open relationship with? Not sure what happens if two people try to indicate they have an open relationship with you.

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Re: @JDX

I can see you guys wouldn't like the feature, because

a)you can count your friends on one hand

b)neither you or your equally nerdy few friends are in relationships

Still, let's mature and say a feature we don't like is stupid, and anyone who doesn't agree with you is also stupid. Doesn't make you look like the dumb-ass in this situation. Nope, not one bit.

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Re: Couples.

Could cause some confusion when applying for a job and the company checks up on them. "So do you want to bring your boyfriend to the Xmas party?"

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Re: Divorce

Maybe it only does it for certain relationship types?

FB doesn't let you list past relationships does it, it would be fun if you could see a list of past girlfriends/boyfriends/divorces.

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Re: What if . . .

Mormons don't have multiple spouses, certainly not legally. That was rather a long time ago.

Romney certainly only has one wife; to suggest otherwise is simply ignorant AND stupid because polygamy is illegal in the USA and nobody would get to run for president without their party running very thorough background checks due to the uproar if something like this was found.

Samsung readies bendy smarties for 2013

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Re: Bendy??

yeah struggling to see the point... reflections off a curved screen sound annoying and what exactly am I supposed to curve the screen for - what shapes are useful?

Humax HDR-1000S Freesat+ recorder with FreeTime

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Freesat VS YouView?

I'm a bit confused by this, mainly since I don't know much about YouView... is YouView not compatible with FreeSat then, only with FreeView?

I've got an older Humax (FoxSat) FreeSat PVR which is pretty good, upgrading to this newer version might be cool but is the idea it just has individual iPlayer, 4OD, etc, players installed as Apps? I don't think I can stand using the 4OD player,

So you broke our encrypted files? Ha! They were DOUBLY encrypted

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Re: If you encrypt it seven times ...

THis is true. It's similar to how you can keep ZIPping the same file and it will eventually reach a single byte in size.