Posts by Nuke

@Zot - Re: Any justification for it being this way?

Wrote :- "it's far cheaper to make one than it is to repair it"

Only because they make it hard to repair, and will not sell you replacement parts anyway because they assume that no-one wants to repair things because they have been made hard to repair. Do you understand the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-fulfilling_prophecy

I repair loads of stuff. My desktop PC stopped recently because (as it turned out) the chassis mains plug on the back had broken a link. I fitted a "new" one, actually salvaged from an earlier PC. Cost me £0 and 30 minutes. Most people would have tossed the whole PC in the skip and bought a new one ; cost £300 (+ £_petrol) and at least 4 hours shopping.

The politicians say "re-use, recycle" but for some reason forget to say "repair". Pity, it would make three-R's.

@ac 13:10 - Re: What are you looking for...?

Wrote :- "In Asia and South America women are clearer about what they want IMHO. ..I found dating women from the US and UK to be head-wrecking"

Basically, the US and UK women are spoiled by the high ratio of men-seeking-women to women-seeking-men. With equal pay, many Western women have settled for single sexless lives (perhaps after a short fling period). Also, the high number of unmarried mothers (in UK at least) means that many are partly or fully out of the scene (childcare is expensive) while OTOH the fathers remain in it. On top of that the number of male immigrants greatly exceeds the number of female ones. The girls left in play can afford to be very fussy.

As you say, there are parts of the world where women remain traditional and in the majority - perhaps those left behind where the male immigrants came from. I knew a South American girl who expected Englishmen to be "gentlemen" and was naively trusting - a lovely feminine and straightforward girl. She COULD trust me but I warned her to be more cautious with others.

In my next life I don't think I will bother with the NW European or USA women.

@MrXavia

Wrote :- "I was in China many years ago while they still had the overhead wires powering their buses, I always thought it was a shame they stopped using them.."

I remember them in London (up until ~1965?). Three problems -

(1) Pointwork - most routes were radially in the suburbs so that they did not need to cross other routes. Points were possible - such as for the branch to the depot, where the driver got out and pulled a lever on the post.

(2) Roadworks and other diversions, and even large parked vehicles could bring things to a halt.

(3) The maintenance and ugliness of those overhead wires.

@yossarianuk - Re: If it isn't broken...fix it until it is....

Wrote :- "Apart from ANY ARM based Windows 8 device, its mandated .. that you cannot disable Secure boot (which uses UEFI)."

I think you meant that it is mandated that PC makers should not disable the Secure boot SWITCH (assuming there is such a switch) - ie it is mandated that that the user should be able to disable Secure Boot. That is true. However it is also mandated (just as an example) that lorries on UK single carriageway roads are llimited to 40mph; but hw often do you see that being obeyed?

From www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/11/linux_foundation_uefi_workaround/

"Linux enthusiasts observed that some OEMs were actually disabling the Secure Boot switch in their firmwares"

@meanioni - Re: twisted Pair...

Wrote :- "I set up my own little enclave with a peer to peer Windows for Worksgroups network (remember that!) running over Ethernet, using Office.... "

Windows for Workgroups?! Nostalgia for that that PoS? Please tell me you're kidding.

In fact I had WfW on an old PC until just 6 months ago - I used it with an old but very fast scanner that had no drivers for anything later.

@ JEDIDIAH - Re: @Crisp - It's just a penis.

Wrote :- "society at large welcomes this kind of shenanigan so long as it's a female that's being held up as a spectacle."

You are getting out of touch. These days naked females are rare on mainstream media. It just isn't PC. Instead it seems fashionable to show naked men, especially in gay scenarios. Watching TV, my wife and I have a contest in which she counts appearances of naked or part-naked men, and I count the ditto women. She wins.

We had to reset the score after seeing "Wilde" last week.

@ Dogsauce

Wrote :- "I find the following phrase useful: "Hang on a minute, let me interupt. Let me say something. .."

Don't interrupt them. The longer their call goes on the more it costs them in time and money. Better to put the handset down without hanging up and return to it 5, 10 or 15 minutes later, whenever they have given up.

Alternatively, if you want some fun, let them finish their spiel, and then in a heavy accent say "My Eeenleesh not good. Please say all again, ve-ery slow pleeez ..."

Or wait until they have finished and say "We are very interested, but you need to speak to a Mr Jones here - please wait while I fetch him to the phone". Then leave it.

@Richard81 - Re: Yeah right

Wrote :- "are you a "nothing north of the Watford Gap" kind of chap?"

Yes, nothing north of Watford. What is this "gap" you speak of?

@AC 09:59 - Re: Hmm...

Wrote :-

"In this case what's happened is that Google have got some pretty good advertising but:

1) There are (as far as I can tell) no monitors or keyboards, or mice, possibly even no PSUs supplied.

2) There is no training for teachers supplied

[etc .....etc ..... etc]"

You must be a blast to give Xmas presents. I give you a camera and you say :-

"Nice, but

1) There is no PC with it to edit my pictures.

2) There is no training provided.

3) I get no paid house extension to provide a studio and editing room.

4) There are no alternative lenses, case, tripod, flash unit etc etc

5) No insurance provided.

6) I do not have the time to use it."

@ JEDIDIAH - Re: Arrogant and Insane...

Wrote :- "Most people simply don't need Word Perfect style overkill. "

And if I did I still have my old copy of WordPerfect and could get it to run too. I would have thought that nearly everyone with a PC has had a workable word processor at some time, enough for their needs. What do people do with this software - has it all rotted away?

@Alfred 2 - Re: Home Owners Defending themselves

Wrote :- " in the UK the phone call would have gone: "All right sir, calm down, we'll have someone round in half an hour or so to give you a crime number so you can claim on the insurance."

You have obviously never have phoned the police in such a situation. I and a neighbour phoned the police when a break-in was openly going on a few doors away. The police arrived THREE DAYS later, a friendly "neighbourhood" copper who drank a nice cup of tea . Both on the phone and when they arrived the police were more interested in me, like what size socks I wore, than in the burgulary.

@Corrine/Thad - Re: Doctors caring & empathetic?

Right on there.

Perhaps some medical STUDENTS are attracted to the profession because they are caring, but they become hardened eventually. Theyhave to learn to switch off, maybe leaving a patient in trouble when the money runs out or it is time to go home - or they end up with with a nervous breakdown. Medics have to be detached and should treat patients like an engineer would treat broken-down machinery.

I thought this was well known about medics. I had a GF who was a nurse but had to drop out - she could not stand it because she was TOO caring.

FTFA :- "... readers in the physics-based professions, but we needn't worry about them as they obviously won't care what anyone thinks of them or be able to see why they should."

That is right on too, for me anyway.

Re: Modern island life or a tale of simple countryfolk

Wrote :- "I live on a small island .... The local PC builder guy gives you the choice of installing Linux for £60* less than with Windows on new builds. It works out cheaper to have a locally built machine than having to send a broken one away to be fixed."

I'm curious - why can't the local builder repair the broken one? Not un-repairable throwaway Apple crap hardware of course, but ones built with a bit of sanity.

@Peter Gathercole - Re: @AC

Peter Gathercole wrote

".. companies ... do not take people on until absolutely necessary, for fear that having to make them redundant at a later date if there is a downturn in their business is so costly. many companies prefer to use agency staff until they know an increase is really justified, to avoid the redundancy packages. ...... if it was easier to get rid of workers more easily, companies might be prepared to employ more people."

Doesn't work like that where I work. We have about 50% agency staff. About a year ago work was very slack, and I asked my boss why the agency people were all still sitting at their desks doing nothing. "But if we get rid of them" he said " it might be hard to get them back again when work picks up!"

@AC - Re: @Neil Barnes

Wrote :- "Wow, what a great business opportunity for someone to start a business building and selling laptops with no OS, so that you can install whatever you want instead! I wonder why nobody ever thought of that before"

They have, but they lose the chance to bundle the Windows-oriented adware and crapware with it, for which they are paid. The payments they receive more than offset the cost of the OEM Windows licence, so the PC ends up costing more.

See Michael Meeks' comments here :-

www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/11/michael_meeks_linux_desktop/

@ b166er - Re: Bill Gates

b166er wrote :- " I imagine [Gates] left because he figured out that, as world's richest man, he might be able to do something a whole lot more useful for mankind than run a technology company.

BS. He left because he was approaching normal retirement age and wants to try repairing his massive negative karma before he gets old and snuffs out. He is doing what some similar nasty businessmen have done in the past - such as Carnegie, Rockefeller and Nobel. For example, Nobel was described in his time as "The Merchant of Death" but managed to get remembered mainly for his Peace Prize. What else does a man do with more money than would be physically possible to spend on himself in the remainder of his life?

As for good works for humanity, the six greatest inventions in the world are anaesthetics, refrigerators, the wheel, spectacles, electricity, and the water closet toilet. Of these, Gates is trying to uninvent the water closet.

Gates said (of, basically, chemical toilets he is sponsoring) : " ... these innovations will ..... help transform our dependence on traditional flush toilets in wealthy nations"

@Billy Catringer - Re: Ikea Selling food - Innovation?

Wrote :- "Because low cost food will draw a crowd. While members of the crowd are eating, guess what else they are doing? They are looking at the furniture Ikea sells."

More likely it gets the shoppers to stay longer and not wander out when they get hungry. And you can't see any furniture from where you sit to eat, in the Bristol Ikea at least. But yes, I did get that idea, I'm not that slow - really. However the idea is commonplace and age-old - ever been to a leisure centre/funfare/bowling alley/Harrods/M&S/Casino ...........?

So, as I said - WTF has it got to do with innovation?

@Thad - Re: MS shoots own foot shocker

Wrote :-

"They've realised that not everyone quakes at the words, "It isn't supported any longer." Who cares? It stopped needing support years ago! When stuff works ...it works. I have never seen the need to progress beyond ... any version of Office beyond 2000"

All very well. until your PC needs replacing (like HDD fails) and your new PC has a new version of Windows (WGA prevents you from installing your old version), which will not run your old version of Office.

Re: @MikeHuk (Talktalk Salesman?) - Can't be that bad

Wrote :- "I am in fact a retired NHS Nurse and have no connection with Talktalk."

Accepted, and apologies, but do try to avoid posts that sound like sales hype. I am happy with Demon as an ISP, but I know others have had trouble with it and I don't think anyone would think I sound like a salesman of theirs.

@Flocke Kroes - Re: Take me to your ... Pope.

Wrote : - "The largest omnidirectional transmitter I could find (probably) still operating was Vatican Radio at 500MW (I could easily be very wrong"

500MW ?! That is the output of a medium sized power station.

I thought that the signals most likely to be picked up by aliens are the focused beams of radar, which, although not carrying information, would be recognisable to aliens as being of artificial origin.

@Dave126 - Re: I have a different take...

Dave 126 wrote :- "If the Linux folk are so savvy, wouldn't they be able to differentiate between the efficient charities and the bloated ones, rather tar them both with the same brush?"

No, they (incl me) are technically savvy, not administratively savvy. All I know is that most things I have heard about charities are about inefficiency and downright dishonesty, particularly at the middle level. I cite The Salvation Army scandal, which paricularly upset my mother as she had contributed to it for years as the "only charity she could trust". (I just Googled for it and found there is a *further* recent scandal at the SA). What percentage of lovingly collected African Aid money ends up in necessary tribute to local chiefs and warlords? Charities turned a blind eye to Jimmy Saville's activities because he brought them money.

Jeffrey Archer raised two million pounds as a charity organiser and kept a million himself - legally, it was his fee. He rationalised it by saying that the charities got a million that they would not otherwise have had. He was not counting the lost money that people might have contributed in future if he had not fouled the scene.

Perhaps there are "efficient" charities, but I do not have the time, resources or inclination to find them out.

@Captain Underpants - Re: Hear, hear!

Wrote :- "it's a stupid and backwards disgrace that a national hero ... is still remembered at least partly as "that guy who committed suicide after being sent down for being gay".

Actually, it is fuss like this that ensures he is remembered that way, whether or not he is pardoned.

I knew of Turing for some while for his technical achievements before I became aware of his personal problems. It is, unfortunately, campaigns like this that make the wider public think of Turing more as a famous gay than a famous scientist.

@ Mad Chaz

Wrote :- "What struck me is this. How can they tell what hum is what?...Let's have a look at my own home computer. It's connected to a cheap UPS, is connected to the television and the sound system. Now imagine all those slightly out of phase 60 Hz frequencies all fudging together and trying to figure out what is what?"

They don't need to figure out what is what. They only need to show that the mains hum on the authentic copy (if detectable) is different from that on the pirated copy (if present).