* Posts by Jeckle

18 publicly visible posts • joined 25 Jul 2007

Wait, what? TrueCrypt 'decrypted' by FBI to nail doc-stealing sysadmin

Jeckle

Trials do not follow the scientific method...

Haven't read all the comments but my opine on this is the following:

He was convicted for 10 years by a court presumably relying on the testimony of "experts".

If I know what documents are supposed to be on your computer it seems to me that it should be a relatively trivial (emphasis on relatively) task to figure out a "Key" that would demonstrably expose those exact documents from the noise that a good encryption utility is supposed to generate.

The only thing standing between the prosecution and a conviction is the defense's "expert" and how diligent that person is.

The jury would be selected based on their ignorance of such matters as seems to be usual in these types of cases.

Rise of the Machines: ROBOT KILLS MAN at Volkswagen plant

Jeckle

The question is...

Did the robot show any remorse...?

Besides which I find using the term "robot" to describe these PLC driven actuators stretching the term.

They have little more problem solving ability than my toaster and like my kettle are useless outside of a very limited domain.

I for one welcome my robot overlords.. as long as they stay in their cage..

Java's 'Steve Jobs' moment in 2012?

Jeckle
Stop

Its a sign

I think that fact that no-one cares enough to have posted a comment yet speaks to me as to where Java sits as a language.. or to the fact that no-one really reads news sites outside of working hours e.g. during lunch. I am going back to Java after a few years to code Android applications, other than that I really fail to see a reason to start a new project using this language which currently feels very "up in the air" to me

Dud Mars probe's explosion will spare Earth's cities

Jeckle
Black Helicopters

Spy satellite...? hahaha..

it's a failed mars probe I tell you... so sorry it landed on your pentagon thingy... we pressed the explode button in orbit I promise... the nuke? it was part of the power supply.. designed in Tehran...

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

Jeckle
FAIL

Manufacturer fail....

Device manufacturer's need to learn to depart s_xually with their proprietary cables. I think that reviewers are partly to blame as The Reg wailed at the thickness of the Transformer, but at least you can get a cable for the thing anywhere or borrow someone elses. If you forgot your iPod cable at an Android conference you're going to have to find some Apple detractor to borrow one from. The Apple guys are going to have a good laugh if you have a Samsung Tab and the roles are reversed.. " A WHAT cable!!!?"

Apple uncloaks top 10 tools of iOS 5

Jeckle
FAIL

What's the point...

of a lock screen, since you can do just about everything from it. Isn't the point of a lock screen to prevent you from inadvertantly taking a photo for example in a place where they have expressly asked you not to. But mr security guard you can't take my iPhone away I will certainly die without it and it took the photo of your super secret installation accidentally. I would delete it but Apple certainly has a copy of it by now or its stored somewhere secret on the phone so it wouldn't help. BTW have they fixed the problem where the latest SMS is displayed for all at the boardroom table to see even though the screen is locked.

NASA restores Pluto to league of planets

Jeckle
FAIL

NASA's incompetance grows

Ja call it what you like, how about a galaxy. Pluto is now a galaxy. Just belittle every other achievement made by American Scientists by behaving like a 2 year old. Yes you can also have a planet. There now, everybody is happy. After all Ronald McDonald is a nobel prize winning physicist.

Does this mean that Ceres is also a planet? It also has a moon and is more massive.

Talk about short term gain, long term credibility loss.

Shhh! HP's cloud is called, er, Scalene

Jeckle
Paris Hilton

Excuse me but before I get to know you better...

Do you have Scalene.... ?

Paris because.. well ummm..

Airborne killer robot destroys Libyan anti-aircraft missile

Jeckle
FAIL

Score: +1 for Armed forces : 0 civilians

Warfare for fighter pilots has just got a little more sterile. No stabby stabby blood on the hands stuff, getting your mates' brains on your jam sandwich (ala "Fly Away Peter"). Instead the civs get even more ordinance dropped on them: sorry the cross-hairs on my monitor obscured the cross on the hospital roof, everyone's green with night vision.

As the Catherine Tremell character in Basic Instinct said: "Somebody has to die, somebody always does" or something to that effect. If its not going to be soldiers its going to be civilians. So now both sides put their soldiers in concrete bunkers and shoot at civilians with their X-Boxes. All that changes are the cliche' excuses that are selected from the Big Black Book of Military Excuses for Generals and Politicians that's been around since before siege weapons were flinging diseased corpses at peasants

F1 chiefs ready post-prang battery safety scheme

Jeckle

Pretty fly for a brit guy....

I can't wait to see how well this flywheel works. Considering your flywheel will be spinning fastest as you enter a corner, as you will have charged it with energy from your wheels during the braking phase of cornering, the gyroscopic effects are going to make the handling of the car interesting at the best of times.

I especially can't wait to see what happens when the bearings seize. For the first time you will be able to see a car flip upside down while speeding down the main straight, or coming to stop in the pits only to start spinning like some crazy kids toy, scattering mechanics, tyres and fuel rigs....

Probably not; but the thought of it still makes me chuckle. .

Mythbusters busted over RFID gagging

Jeckle
Flame

Sounds like a good myth to bust

Tonight we investigate the real reason Adam retracted his allegations and whether the CC companies really did conspire to get Adam to retract his statement. We also get to see Adam's car blow up just as it allegedly would have if he had not.

Dell launches Inspiron 9 mini laptop

Jeckle
Coat

Lets face it....

Not much is going to run on this come the end of next year. 200pounds for an obsolete laptop seems a bit steep even if it is small, which is not always a good thing.

Always puzzles me why they don't put the processor behind the screen. Then you can put a decent processor in using the entire (wasted) area of the screen to dissipate thermal energy. Its also not going to be insulated from the air by someone's genitals, something laptop manufacturers have been accused of baking in the past.

Mine's the one with the asbestos apron...

Dangerous mobe chargers flood UK

Jeckle
Flame

Do yourself a favour...

and take a screwdriver to your CE marked stuff and observe for yourself the "quality engineering" inside.; but of course you can't open them without breaking the case can you? Makes you drink... doesn't it....?

This applies especially to the 12v ciggy lighter chargers. Neil hits the nail on the head.

The stuff you can pick up from a hawker is not really any lower quality than the stuff that comes with your mobile.

@Onionman: Abso-@#$%-lutely.

@Mage: How many mobile devices do you want to push half an amp charging current into? Aside from laptops, which due to their high energy consumption warrant their own charger/mains supply, I can't think of any pocket device that would require such a high current. You could always just use two USB ports off your USB hub (requiring its own proprietary CE marked mains supply, of course) thereby giving you 1A of charging current; 5W at USB voltages.

Hmmm toasty warm singing campfire songs while your mobile charges. Kumbaya O2....

Sony Ericsson Walkman W890i mobile phone

Jeckle

SE's Crappy Connectors

I used to have a K800i and will agree with those who say its still a marvellous phone. In fact the chap that sold me my HTC S710 refused to part with his.

But man those crappy flimsy poppy-outey, pathetic, bulbous connectors that SE keeps coming up with are ridiculous. What the hell is wrong with micro USB. With really minimal design effort a micro USB connector could be almost flush with the phone which is what you want when sliding the thing into your jeans pocket with the earphones plugged in. My wife's W880 is also a great phone with another amazingly stupid connector that you always have to try plugging in the wrong way before you plug it in the right way.

US scientists puncture the ethanol biofuel bubble

Jeckle
Pirate

dot Corn Crash

So as US stops producing corn and India's sugar gets turned into fuel we will be paying more for our bitter Post Toasties and less for our fuel. Hmmm. This is good news but as The Common Man once said "The people who make the rules, don't row the boats."

Biofuels suck. Nuclear is clean. I'm for a small reactor in every house, car, office block and not a whiff of C2O2 anywhere. Just cause you can't see radiation doesn't make it any worse than C2O2 (Carbon monoxide -- also invisible) which will also cause your kids to have 3 eyes and 15 fingers and give you lung cancer. Radiation is also more easily detectable and to stop it (it also travels in a straight line) all you need is a bit of lead paint... oops

Skull and crossbones as there is no Toxic Waste icon.

Droid pilots beat humans at air-to-air refuelling

Jeckle

Do British people get cold shivers when they crack whopper?

@Nigee:

>There was a photo a few weeks back of the RAF doing this same thing, taken from a/c flying alongside showing Tornado crew with hands in air

There is of course the possibility that the Tornado pilot was surrendering to the Air Conditioner flying along side him... I know I would.

Oh, haha... theres the cold shivers... haha, who would have guessed? ... now where's me coat... .

So now if they can just get the air conditioner to refuel in the air maybe someone will develop something to drive my car so I can read El Reg on my way to work.

Jason Bourne disses James Bond

Jeckle

As if...

Maybe Matt Damon should be comparing the whiny wuss he portrays as Jason Bourne to the mature Special Ops Assassin that was the Jason Bourne that Robert Ludlum portrays in the excellent trilogy he penned two decades ago.

I haven't seen an excellent trilogy so decimated by bad directing and acting since Daryl Hannah and co tortured Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear a while back.

The only things that the movie and the books have in common are the titles. Even the characters are twisted to perversion. In the book Jason's girlfriend doesn't get killed off, instead she becomes a stabilising factor in his life and unlike the pathetic whiny creature played in the 1st movie is actually a really strong character that is forced to take care of herself and at the same time keep him from going crazy.

Of course when cast a Miss Prissy as your leading man you can't have a strong woman showing what a little boy he is.

Ahh shame his girlfriend got offed. "Can't look after his women, can he.... " Seems he has more in common with James Bond then he will admit.

Won't be rushing to see the third one.....

US wants trucks mounted with frikkin' laser beams

Jeckle

Western Casualties implying...?

> A significant proportion of Western casualties in this kind of fighting are caused by mortar or rocket attacks on otherwise-secure bases in .... ....Northern Ireland.

Bwahahaha.. now there's a subtle dig if ever I heard one.

...attacks from the dreaded Irish Republican chapter of Al Quaeda (IRAQ) perhaps?