Posts by Nuke

@Tom38/Gilgamoth - Re: @ Nuke

Defending Trevor Bayliss ? A bit different from El Reg comments on him on previous occasions. Try these shit storms of ridicule, from which I take one choice quote each :-

http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2013/02/19/baylis_protect_inventors/#c_1735254

"there were hand cranked radios at least as far back as World War II, so he definitely didn't invent the general concept. A cursory search on Google Patents reveals a 1942 patent for a "Spring Driven Electric Generator" by Robert Leslie Haynes et al"

http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/2/2009/09/02/patent_infrigement_criminal_offence/#c_574408

.. from which the very first comment was :- "Trevor Baylis...is an unmitigated prick, as anyone who has ever seen or heard him speak will know full well"

A clockwork radio is in the realms of the bleedin obvious. If I'd needed to make one it would have been simple enough and it would not have entered my wildest dreams to have patented it. I would not have "wanted to protect my idea". In fact, as an engineer and hobbyist myself, similar in some ways to Bayliss, I have had many ideas, and constructed them (or, at work, have had them made), but would never dream of entering the patent minefield. They have been used by my employer, or just for myself, or once as a hobby magazine article for anyone else to copy. How many R&D jobs do you need for a clockwork torch ? - sounds like a variant on the light bulb joke.

BTW, Dyson is a sack of shit. My wife has had to deal with him personally in business matters, and he is quite different from the charm act he uses in public.

@AC - Re: So strictly speaking...

AC wrote :- "So, ..if you accidentally stumble across some KP and report it to the police, then YOU will be arrested and charged ... It's as silly as imagining that someone could go into a police station to report that they're the victim of domestic violence and promptly being grilled about whether they're an illegal immigrant."

Wrong analogy. First case is about the same offence. Second case is about two different offences.

@Pete H - Re: @Rol - vote (with your wallet)

Pete H wrote :-

"I think you'll [find Mrs T] generally hated [manufacturing] because she should see the way the future was going. "

You are claiming that Mrs T had little or no hand in the transformation of the UK from a manufacturing nation into a nation of service industries?! Then you cannot have been around during her time, nor awake during her funeral "tributes" more recently.

"Britain doesn't have any natural resources so everything must be shipped in"

You'd better go back to those geography and history classes. Britain has significant deposits of coal, iron ore (what did you think the industrial revolution was based on?), China clay, non-ferrous metals, gas and oil. One day soon we will need to re-open those mines that Mrs T hated so much.

"[Britain has] workers who are generally expensive to employ (for multiple reasons) ... would you honestly open a factory in Britain?"

How are we so different from Germany and France, who did not follow the Thatcherite route and from whom we now import so many of our cars, electrical and other manufactured goods? And does not "expensive workers" apply to service workers too?

My view of the UK today is close to the 'B' Ark in Hitchikers' Guide. But we cannot just keep taking in each other's washing, or sit on our arses and "not work" because we are "expensive". We will be like a man dying of thirst because he thinks that a drink is not "good value for money" (I'm sick of that Thatcherite meme). When the rest of the world won't sell us anything because we have nothing to sell them, we are going to have to roll our sleeves up and start mining, farming and making things for ourselves again, good "value for money" or not; or just die, like one of those Sub-Saharan nations.

Re: @DaLo - incompatible

DaLo wrote :- "I've been to places where it would be total luck if the voice guidance would keep you correct. The voice hasn't had a chance to finish the one direction when the next has to interrupt it and then the next."

That depends on your satnav. Mine says for example "In 200 yards turn left FOLLOWED BY [my caps] turn right", if the features are close.

As I said, I have quite an old satnav. I bought one for my wife recently, and after much research it seemed to me that they have generally got worse, not better. They have put a lot of lipstick on the display (like 3D effects, but I have no trouble reading 2D maps) but many functions my old one had, and I value, like setting up an itinery, are hard to find now or poorly implemented.

@DonJefe - Re: @murph - Remember the article here about how you'd never

Wrote :- "The primary role of rifling is to provide a gas seal without the use of wadding. A nice side effect of rifling is that it allows you to control the inflight characteristics of the bullet."

Eh ?? Never heard that claim. Wadding was required in old smooth bores because of the poor fit of the ball in the barrel. Back in those days, someone needing an accurate shot, like for sniping, would go through his ammo the day before and select a few musket balls which happened to be a good fit. They might even file them to a better shape. Wadding would cease to be needed when ammo manufacturing improved (by which time rifles had replaced most smooth bore). The prime reason for rifling is in fact your "side effect" - to keep a longish thinnish cone-tipped bullet pointing forwards gyroscopically by spinning it. Compared with a spherical bullet, this had lower air resistance for its weight, and better target penetration.

Wrote :- "You are terriblely oversimplifying the reasons for the close ranges of traditional battles."

Yes, simplifying, but not "terribly". Another reason for close battles was the slowness of re-loading, so they fired a volley and then charged into hand-to-hand fighting rather than be caught by the enemy charging themselves while re-loading. And even the military long musket could not be relied on to hit an enemy at more than about 50 yards, even when perfectly aimed, not because it was not rifled but because of the poorly fitting ammo as mentioned.

But rifling FORCED the ammo makers to improve the fit - no point in rifle grooves if the bullet did not touch the sides. And once weapons were rifled, warfare took a quantum leap with the far greater ranges of both small arms and artillery.

@Wowfood - Re: Haven't you watched

Wrote :- "Considering the population and how long the shows been going on, I'm suprised there's anyone left in Midsomer."

It's got nothing on St Mary Mead, where huge numbers of Agatha Christies' murders took place. In fact "Midsomer" is meant to be a county, and St Mary Mead is just a village.

@AC 15:10 - Re: Does anyone know

Wrote :- "Never been stuck behind a cyclist for miles on the way home after a long day?"

No.

" Never been hit by them, and / or nearly hit by them?"

No, but have been hit by cars both when on a bike and in my own car

"Ever been stuck trying to get past a line of horses,"

Sometimes.

Cars were nearly banned when they were first invented because they were such a danger and nuisance to most other road users - who were walking, cycling or using horses. Here is the order of grandfather rights on the road :-

1) Pedestrians

2) Horses

3) Pedal Bikes

4) Cars

5) Motor bikes

So in a 60" wide car you complain about being held up by a 20" wide bike or 24" wide horse. Whose fault is that? You should think about getting a narrower motor vehicle (clue - they are called M*t*rb*k*s).

"Cyclists and horses are at best a serious inconvenience on the road, and at normal times a downright menace to their own safety and that of others."

You could substitute the word "cars" in there and it would still be true. I'd like to ban all cars except mine, it would be far safer and more convenient for me. Unfortunately we all have to share.

@ Rob Fisher - Re: Crowd sourcing...

Wrote :- "Companies are just groups of individuals."

...... one of which, the head in fact, is a multi-millioniaire who could finance it himself.

Seems to me this is more an excercise in market research, with you paying the researcher to survey you.

AC 11:55 - Re: Great Idea

Wrote :- "I for one are glad the government is helping me get free from my addiction. Might actually get some of my life back..."

And my porn should load much faster without all those plebs competing for it.

@Anomalous Cowshed - Re: Why drones?

Wrote :- "Why not give people permits to shoot down mosquitoes? There will be something to shoot at, it will be a true test of skill, it will be marginally useful"

Monty Python already did that :- www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKlkD-D20OI

Icon of their technique.

@ Wokstation - Re: Dear Advertising Scum. STFU, GTFO, FOAD, & HAND.

Wrote :- "I don't watch advertisements on tv, because as soon as they begin, I hit MUTE & leave the room."

Totally agree, except this bit. I record it and skip the adverts altogether. "

OK to record films, but not always practicable otherwise. Things like sports coverage I want to see in real time. I mute the adverts and read a book that I keep to hand. It is suprising how much reading you get through / lifetime the adverts would have wasted.

@Luke11 - Re: Google, just pull your finger out of your arse

Wrote :- "People forget that because of Microsoft more money has been through their success to needy people then has been given by all the other charities in the world, ever. ..... Bill's generosity have given the world more than anybody else."

"Forget" ? I'm sick of hearing about it. If I want my money to go to a charity it would be one of my own chosing, not via Gates and his chosing. FFS, the guy has so much money that he could not physically shovel it out of the window if he spent the rest of his life doing nothing else, so what do you expect him to do with it? If he gave so much away that he was left with no more than the average citizen I might start to admire him for it, but he remains one of the richest guys in the world.

Much of that money was obtained dishonestly. If I rob a bank, would it make it OK if I dropped some in the charity box on the way out? The first thing Gates could do is give a substantial part back to those he cheated, then he can do what he likes with the rest.

@ dogged - "Edge Cases"

Da Weezil wrote :- "My usage includes weekends at race circuits , travel at odd hours and "on demand" for a disabled family member, trips to the amenities site with garden rubbish, collecting a neighbours kids oh and I work odd hours too."

dogged replied :- "So you're an edge case and the scenario does not apply to you."

Hardly an "edge case", me too if you change some details, and I suspect many, indeed most, others. I treat my car as a mobile cabin, with all sorts of stuff in it that I might need on the move, including some photographic gear, outdoor clothing, tools and iron rations. I also need it large (4x4 in fact) as I find I am always having to carry bulky stuff. Tomorrow it will be a 1/4 ton of paving slabs for example. My lifestyle is clearly different from yours.

This proposal is for a commuter/shopper transport capsule.

@Alan Bourke - Re: Just why bother to use MS Office?

Alan Bourke wrote :- "Because functionally [MS Office is] far superior especially when any sort of automation or business intelligence is involved. Y'know, the things that real people do with it in real businesses."

I've worked in some real businesses and most real people (ie the ones who DO things rather than just liaise with each other) use office apps for no more than simple word processing for reports and external letters, for sending emails and for keeping a calendar.

I have no doubt the project management people elsewhere in my building use the fancier stuff in MS Office, but they are an incestuous circle jerk ignored by everyone else. Sure, once or twice a week those jerks spew a wad of A2 sized fantasy timeline charts onto us, but my copies go straight into the bin.

Whether free apps such as Libre Office can do this automated stuff I would not know, as being busy keeping some real power stations going I do not have the time, need or inclination to find out.

@Charles 9 - Re: You can't.

Wrote :- "Patents and copyrights are .. meant to provide an incentive to invent and create, respectively. Without them, content creators and inventors might balk and releasing their works for fear of being immediately copycatted without recourse."

Well I have invented quite a few things, both for my work and privately, and they have been PHYSICALLY MADE too. But the ones for personal use I have never released "for fear of being immediately sued" (as you put it) by some patent troll under one of their broadly worded patents (under which they have never made anything).

Eg, about 1973, a buzzer to warn if I opened my car door to get out with the lights still on. Standard these days but I never saw another back then; maybe someone else had invented it before me, don't know, wasn't going to find out. Seems an obvious idea to me.

@ Gray Ham - Re: Some equally scientific research ...

Wrote :- "If Marist lads think it is so, then it must be so"

We are already struggling with what "Nerds" and "Geeks" are, now you bring in "Marist Lads". WTF are they? If they were chatting to a young lady it is obvious they cannot be either. So where are they on the Venn diagram?

@AC (18:06) - Re: If car manufacturers were to do the same...

Wrote :- "Nowadays the car has been abstracted to the point where not even a qualified mechanic can maintain a car without a full-blown garage set of diagnostic equipment."

That's funny, I am still maintaining mine at home. I don't need diagnostic kit to see if my spark plugs or brake linings are worn, I take them to bits and look, just like the old days.

Re: The man was a book writing machine

Wrote :- "I always wondered how many "assistants" he had on the case, or indeed if it was a pen name for a bunch of guys"

While I have no doubt of this guy's abilities. it is true that writers with established "names" in the technical world tend to become editors as much as writers, overseeing a team doing much of the grunt work and then no doubt adding their own words for the final product.

It is a bit like how Brunel is quoted as having designed (and even built) practically every structure on the GWR, as in : "the goods shed at Stroud, built by Brunel". It would not have been physically possible. Brunel had a large team who knew his style, and certain standard designs which were adapted for particular sites. No doubt the man himself countersigned each design after some tweaks.

@ Tom 38

Tom 38 wrote :- "Would we actually save 15k per head? Have you taken into account each lag on £20k/year is taking the £35k/year job of someone who hasn't broken the law."

There are plenty of tasks around that need doing that are never going to get done on "normal" business case principles. So doing those tasks will not be putting anyone out of a job.

How about constructing a flyover junction to replace the level railway junction just west of Woking Station? How about restoring some canals? Digging tunnels to put national Grid wires underground in National Parks?

All spade work, not rocket science

AC @23:29 - Re: Bring back the cash economy!

Wrote :- "If someone mugs me and takes my cash, it's gone. With a card, I'm fully covered and protected from theft and malicious use"

...... assuming you win the argument with the bank that it was not your fault.

@Peter R.1 - Re: Mein Kampf is many things...

Wrote "[reading Mein Kampf] would immediately put right anyone under the illusion that he was some sort enlightened leader, and expose him for the utterly inconsistent, illogical, ill informed, incompetent, ranting and raving deranged and intellectualy challenged lunatic"

My mother collected many memoirs of mainstream British politicians. Having browsed through them, I came to the same conclusion there. Even the memoirs of Bertrand Russell, supposedly one of the greatest 20th century thinkers, left me seriously disillusioned.

@AC (08:06 GMT)

Wrote :- "I'm currently living in another EU country and I don't think I get more than two nuisance calls a year. So, it is clearly possible to change the way things work without breaking international law."

I suspect that is because cold callers get more success with the Brits, who are generally too polite with these bar stewards.

@ JaimieV - Re: What a depressingly dumbass set of 'joke' comments

Wrote :- "Do try and keep the sexist bigotry down folks, all it does is shows you for the mental underachiever you really are."

Thanks, Devil's Advocate here, but I am very comfortable with my level of mental achievement so I don't mind your insult at all.

I would comment that of all the men and women I have known, quite a few of the men would be potential candidates for spaceflight, but absolutely NONE of the women would either be capable or even wish to be involved even in their wildest dreams. It is beyond me where they even FIND such women.

One thing all those women say is that women are invariably bitchy to each other when confined in a group; does that sound like in a space craft to you? OTOH, men tend to be affable to each other (and to women), even if it takes an effort, unless they are complete (and easily identifiable) bar stewards.

Are the recruiters leaning over backwards to recruit women to be PC? Perhaps the women I have known are a self-selecting group? Or is this an effect of the upper tail of the statistical distribution?

@Gregor - Re: English Taxpayers

Wrote :- "RE: Why don't the English get a vote on an independent Scotland - because the principle is SELF determination - i.e., each nation deciding its own future. England is equally able to decide its own future, in or out of the union"

Er ..... paradox there. Wouldn't the English (and Welsh) voting in a Scottish-independence-from-England/Wales referendum be exactly the same in principle as the Engish/Welsh voting in a English/Welsh-independence-from-Scotland referendum? I take it you would not object to the latter? Your own argument could be used to claim that Scottish people should be _excluded_ from a referendum on the split!

So it wouldn't it be logical to allow English, Welsh and Scottish _all_ to vote in a England/Wales - Scotland split. No ?

The paradox is rooted in your treatment of Scotland as a nation. It is not, nor is England; they ceased to be nations in 1707. Today, Great Britain is a nation and a split would affect all the people.

I loved the way a Scottish Nationalist summed up his position on TV news once. It was like "We think London is too far away from Scotland to understand its problems. So we want to be ruled from Brussels."