Posts by mutatedwombat
553 posts • joined Thursday 11th October 2012 15:33 GMT
You forget some important questions
- What is the projected return on investment, based on quantitative analysis
- Given the answer to the previous question, what level of investment over what period can be justified
Several years and billions of dollars down the road, the first of these two questions has still not been answered.
@Andrew Jones 2
A sensible and rational comment. Are you sure you've come to the right place?
Re: Incomplete
Apple and Microsoft also have a signed agreements with the NSA. There is no escape.
Re: "6 refers to its girth"
Indeed. Our* national anthem contains the phrase "our land is girt by sea" (stop sniggering up the back), which suggests that your interpretation is correct.
*Australia
Fashion?
"the market leader 24 months ago can go out of fashion very quickly"
I thought this was a tech site.
Does this heavy discounting
mean that the product is about to be discontinued? Probably the kindest thing to do.
Re: Please be quiet Malfoy
Yours is the seventh impossible thing that I have read today.
Posted in Boffins build headless robo-kitties
Not bad for a first attempt
Could do with some more fur. Does it walk on keyboards yet?
Posted in Bjarne Again: Hallelujah for C++
Re: @Tom 7 (Any programming language is a tool)
"Does your most complex program go something like std::cout << "Hello, World" << std::endl;?"
One of my most complex programs was a preemptive real time scheduler with associated library. I wrote it in C and assembly language, both of which are much simpler than C++. Can you save and restore registers, disable/enable interrupts, do efficient bit manipulation and simple atomic operations in C++? (That's a rhetorical question.)
I am not violently against C++, in fact I have used it for many years. I just don't think it is a particularly good language, because despite its power it has a horrible syntax, lacks elegance and is far more complex than it should be.
The ideal programming language would in my view have the power of C++ and the simplicity of C. Is that possible? I don't know, but I like to think it is. We are a long way from that.
Posted in Bjarne Again: Hallelujah for C++
@Tom 7 (Re: Any programming language is a tool)
If you were undergoing open heart surgery, would you prefer your surgeon to use a complex and difficult to master tool that many people have not properly mastered? Or would you rather he used a scalpel, so he could concentrate on saving your life, without being distracted by the idiosyncrasies of his equipment?
Posted in Bjarne Again: Hallelujah for C++
Any programming language is a tool
A tool should be easy to use and understand, with no complexity or ambiguity, so that you can concentrate on the problem at hand.
Finding these images seems like the perfect job for
sociopaths. They are unlikely to be affected, and it would keep them away from the rest of us.
As usual
Australia remains flat and boring. Sigh.
Really?
Apple is going with "Won't somebody think of the children?".
I suspect that the numerous requests from the NSA weren't about missing children.
I wonder who wrote their script?
Re: Trailblazing a pointless device
In one sentence you complain that existing devices are "tied to proprietary apps and platforms through ad hoc data formats", then in the next sentence you laud Apple. To be fair though, you do acknowledge that their solution will likely be proprietary.
Indeed.
The best hope for a non proprietary open standard is Google, and they don't seem particularly interested in watches.
Re: Hang on
I don't think you have a real appreciation for the size of Australia, and its population density in certain areas (like the one set aside for its part of the array). It has a land area roughly equivalent to the contiguous states of the US, and a population of 22 million, most of whom are crowded into a handful of coastal cities.
If the US spooks have done nothing wrong
then they have nothing to hide, right?
The purpose of a degree
is to demonstrate one's motivation, persistence, intelligence and ability to learn. To a lesser extent it confers a limited set of skills that may or may not be of transient relevance early in one's career. Requiring the possession of a degree is a handy way of reducing the number of job applicants to a manageable level.
What a degree does not do is obviate the necessity to continually study new developments so as to remain useful and therefore employable.
I majored in Theoretical Physics*, yet spent most of my career designing and coding real time embedded software for data communications devices and things that go bang, using mostly C, C++ and assembly language. The number of times I had to use post High School mathematics? Zero.
*Included brief exposure to Fortran, but no other languages
Seriously?
Does anyone actually attempt to use Office on a mobile phone? How bizarre.
Re: Unstable system
Not just Apple, Google, and Microsoft. I suspect you'll have trouble finding an ISP who isn't compromised.
Your choices may be to either change the system, leave the country or accept that you have no privacy.
You think that's an overreaction?
You should see the international outcry that we cop when we even suggest culling some of our sex crazed, starving koalas.
Posted in ACMA mulls cloud regulation
Nice try, ACMA
"sovereignty is one of the issues the ACMA wants to examine, with the regulator noting that 35 percent of Australians would withhold personal information from a site not based in Australia."
"...many users probably don't know where their data is hosted."
"...data portability could come under the regulatory spotlight..."
Why do I get the idea that the goal here is to subject as much data as possible to Australian legislation, so that the government can more easily get its grubby hands on it. No thanks. I'd rather have my data raped by a foreign government that isn't interested in it.
No direct personal experience, of course
"This is down to skills developed by playing games, particularly first-person shooters that require gamers to make quick decisions about what to blast every second, or so we're told."
Yeah, OK Jasper, whatever you say.
I think you could
have worked SUBMERGED into the title.
I eagerly await
The inevitable adoption by graphic designers everywhere of the delightfully retro GeoCities Chic.
@Captain DaFt Re: Good to see someone with their priorities in order
Upvoted for dingletwat .
Here's a variation on a theme
1. Click link to interesting article.
2. Pop up: "We notice that you are in Australia. Would you prefer to view our Australian web site?"
3. Foolishly click yes
4. Taken to home page of Australian subsidiary. No sign of article.
Re: Are you sure you want to do this?
I re-read the Register message carefully. I can't see where it solicits any information other than the identity of someone who had previously contacted them. I am not aware of anyone's identity being classified since Operation Mincemeat in WWII.
Re: Question
If I had to guess, my money would be on it starting with a B.
Re: People are so F'en dumb
You are absolutely right, Anonymous Coward ("People are so F'en dumb" @15:08), and it was especially thoughtful of you to provide an example.
Thank you Sony
If I wasn't a PC gamer I'd probably buy a PS4. I may even buy one anyway, because I despise Microsoft that much.
Re: Lies, Damned Lies and Guesswork
That seems like a lot of bother. I think I'll just rely on the assumption that the government finds both me and my activities boring, and not worth a second glance. Sadly, they are correct.
I wonder how Microsoft will respond
Based on the Windows 8 saga, one could suspect that they might stay the course (or be paralysed by indecision) unless/until early sales figures show a significant public preference for the PS4. At that point, if they remain true to form, their response will be a token gesture of some kind. In both cases they have a clear agenda that they wish to pursue, and are possibly reluctant to be sidetracked.
HOWEVER: Windows 8 does not have significant competition from another company. Compare that to the Xbox One, which has an aggressive competitor with roughly equal market share. They may be forced to act sooner, and more decisively. Are they prepared to abandon their DRM agenda, or will they perhaps attempt to bribe people into accepting it? Interesting times.
(Disclaimer: I use a PC gaming rig, and do not own a console.)
Act of war
Blockading a port is considered an act of war.
Would "Offensive Cyber Effects Operations" also qualify?
Re: it's probably MUCH worse than this
I noticed that Microsoft was the first company to get on board with the NSA. I also noticed that Microsoft's new XBox One has a compulsory always on Kinect device that can listen and see in both visible and infra red wavelengths. No wonder the NSA are building a huge new data centre.
Good old Microsoft
They were the first to bend over for the NSA, and now they want to put cameras and microphones in every home. No thanks.
Yeah, but
I've been able to do that with Steam for years, and they have an offline mode.
The new consoles are a hard sell
Steam has an off-line mode that works (I know, I've tried it). The PC is backwards compatible with games like Half Life (released 2004), Doom (released 1993) and Myst (released 1993), and can be upgraded while still maintaining compatibility. Steam regularly has sales that offer discounts of up to 95%. The PC games market has free mods like Black Mesa, Minerva and Cry of Fear. There are also free new levels for games like Portal and Left4Dead 2, as well as additions to games like the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series (e.g. Project Brazil). There is a much greater variety of Indie games and MMOS.
I already have a PC, and for the price of a new console I can upgrade it with a high end graphics card, which will also speed up some of my non-gaming software.
I think I'll give the new consoles a miss.
Not that difficult, really
"Just what explains these discrepancies is hard to say."
No, not really. Apple specifically targets high income earners, whereas there are Android models targeting each income bracket. That explains the discrepancies.
.
You can always use Google's DNS
Windows 7
Open the Control Panel by clicking on the Windows button, then click Control Panel
Type "Network and Sharing" in the upper right hand corner and click on Network and Sharing Center
Click Change Adapter Settings
Right click on the network adapter you'd like to check (wired or wireless) and click Properties
Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click Properties
Select radio button "Use the following DNS server addresses:"
Preferred DNS server: 8 . 8 . 8 . 8
Alternate DNS server: 8 . 8 . 4 . 4
Re: Will somone think of the children!!
There is nothing to stop you from purchasing web filter software for your own PC. Many such products are available. It is unreasonable to expect someone else to assume your parental responsibility, and even more unreasonable to expect the entire adult population to be permitted to see only that which is suitable for viewing by your children.
@Yet Another Anonymous coward (Re: Illegal content is already illegal)
Just to clarify, the proposed internet filter didn't happen in Australia. The government was forced to back down by a groundswell of public opposition. What remains is a patchwork of individual blocking orders against web sites involved in criminal activity (usually causing collateral damage that affects a few thousand other sites) using existing legislation, and voluntary filtering by a couple of our more obsequious ISPs.
So, web censorship is not inevitable. It can be defeated. And, if all else fails, one can always use a VPN.
Perhaps slightly off topic
but nonetheless IT related, at a recent visit to my GP (in Australia) he mentioned that the Government is now forcing GPs to forward patient data to the new personally controlled electronic health (eHealth) record (PCEHR) system, which was originally touted as an opt-in system. The chilling part is that they refuse to guarantee security of patient records, and anomalies in patient data have already been observed.
I prefer
the term fruity sphincter.
Re: Preinstalled at no extra cost
English has a history of relentless mutation in response to cultural and geopolitical changes.
Take for example your sentence
"That must mean you get it before..."
Decomposing your sentence, we have:
That: Middle English, from Old English thæt, neuter demonstrative pron. & definite article; akin to Old High German daz, neuter demonstrative pron. & definite article, Greek to, Latin istud, neuter demonstrative pronoun.
must: Middle English moste, from Old English mōste, past indicative & subjunctive of mōtan to be allowed to, have to; akin to Old High German muozan to be allowed to, have to
mean: Middle English menen, from Old English mǣnan; akin to Old High German meinen to have in mind, Old Church Slavic měniti to mention
you: Middle English, from Old English ēow, dative & accusative of gē you; akin to Old High German iu, dative of ir you, Sanskrit yūyam you
get: Middle English, from Old Norse geta to get, beget; akin to Old English bigietan to beget, Latin prehendere to seize, grasp, Greek chandanein to hold, contain
it: Middle English, from Old English hit
before: Middle English, adverb & preposition, from Old English beforan, from be- + foran before, from fore
As you can see, English is a moving target. By Old English standards, your sentence is nonsensical, and should have been written more like:
"Thæt mōste mǣnan ēow geta hit beforan..."
Perhaps you should simply relax and watch evolution in progress.
Watching people in the UK criticise totalitarian tendencies in the US
borders on the surreal. (How many surveillance cameras do you have in London? Can you still be arrested for suggesting a policeman's horse might be gay?) At least here in Australia we are somewhat protected by extreme government incompetence, even though they are no more trustworthy than any other government.
@ anonimous: The only thing I've watched on TV
in the last year has been Doctor Who. I'm seriously considering turning my TV into a wall mounted monitor for my PC, since the display quality in AAA games easily exceeds the pitiful quality of the over compressed crap the TV channels* transmit at never more than 720p.
*In Australia. Your Brontosaurusage may vary.
Re: EVOLUTION of IT
Xerox Park / UNIX -> Linux -> OSX -> Vista
:
In each case Apple takes something, makes it desirable, and then is immediately copied - badly - by Microsoft / Wintel.
Nope. OSX is not in any way derived from Linux, and Vista is not in any way derived from OSX.
Re: Easy to see that Win8...
I was aware that Microsoft engages in astroturfing, but I had no idea they were so lacking in subtlety.
