Giffgaff goody-bags

I thought my brain had stopped functioning but, no, Google informs me that in the UK that is actually a thing.

Yep

"just had an explosion in my pants. It was ground shaking"

Of course, this being the internet, it's odds on that these are the results that matter to you. (For a random value of 'you")

Re: but the war is already lost

The only way to win a war against terrorism is to sit around a table with the terrorists and negotiate on what the best way would be to remove the conditions that gave rise to the war in the first place - abhorrent as it may seem.

Absolutely. That's how we beat the Red Brigades. All hail our International Marxists overlords!

Since it's Silicon Heaven

I'm afraid the lowly mechanicals are banned

Well that's him outed, then

A "renowned" nuclear engineer worked as a nuclear engineer, on major nuclear engineering projects. Who'd have thought it.

I want to change my user name

to Baldrick's Left Testicle.

ODFO

FTW

Get rid of Paris?

Just when the joke was becoming funny again?

What am I talking about. The Paris joke is always funny.

Look, it's a rip-off

But that's not and has never been the point.

Generally a creative person, an artist or designer or novelist or whatever, tries to be creative. That's what adds value and wins awards. Generally, however, they fail. As a consequence they fail in the marketplace. We don't however punish then with the threat of an IP lawsuit. If we did, then for example, Tolkien's estate would be rolling in the proceeds of lawsuits against about 90% of 20th Century fantasy authors.

Of course, in this case, Samsung hasn't tried to be creative, or rather they have deliberately decided not to be. For that the market should punish them. (Hell, I'd be embarrassed enough to be seen to be a fanboi, but a fake fanboi?) If this lawsuit succeeded it would set a disastrous precedent. Which is why it won't. Originality is simple the price we pay for originality and even the law knows it.

From the linked story

"A FORMER female executive is suing a major Melbourne company for $1.1 million after it allegedly failed to act on her repeated complaints of serious sexual harassment."

That'd be right

According to the link the Netflix deal was for the entire series - something like 50 hours of programming. Now that actually sounds rather expensive for repeats but it was a flagship deal. For more ordinary programming $100 million buys you a lot of content.

So you think

Richard Stallman really is a ninja*. Look, I'm no fan of RMS. Sometimes I agree with him. More than often I think he's several kinds of wrong. But he's earned the right to be listened too. If you think he's wrong by all means say so, but then, the onus is on you to support your position, which I don't see you doing.

For the record I think he's pretty much right here - trusting MS to behave in an even moderately altruistic manner is a mug's game.

*Inevitable XKCD reference. Number 225 to be precise.

I'd prefer

what happened last week to have happened a billion years ago and half a universe away. When you can go anywhere and tell any story story arcs become an encumbrance and a contrivance. Continuity's fine - the show's always has that - but lately it's become a fetish that's getting in the way of good storytelling.

Bite your head off

That's the legal (and just) punishment for spelling 'Qantas' with a 'u'.

Same here

I was expecting a BOFH-approved zapper system. So many creative uses there.

Not quite £20 but close

http://cgi.ebay.com/LCD-Bluetooth-Vibrate-Alert-Bracelet-Mobile-phone-B01-/250725769774?pt=UK_Mobile_Home_Phones_Bluetooth_Acc_ET&hash=item3a606ba22e

Never underestimate the Chinese.

When nuclear energy goes wrong it goes so very very wrong

That's exactly what has just been disproved.

That's only the second biggest

The biggest: Oprah, Beyonce, Lindsay. One of these names is not like the other.

Would that be all right then ?

Yes, it's a safe limit. As long as you're under the limit you're safe.

Do you throw out your food the day before the use by date?

Fear not

in the absence of VOIP, the only way you'll be hearing your neighbour's conversations is if you lean over their shoulder and read them yourself. And then you'll get both sides. Or if someone in the carriage talks to someone else in the carriage. Never been on the Underground - is that verboten?

Easy

Just call Fitzcarraldo - has to be easier on the way down.

Don't you mean Nonageddon

no need to be sexist.

Face it, Graham

If your storeroom was robbed it'd be in bootnotes the next day.

Don't diss

Pastyfarianism!

Otherwise known as

I can't get on der internet* - there's no blue 'e'.

*or das elektronischübahn or whatever.

"Not going to go away"

They said that about Myspace.

And probably about Geocities.

And probably about the Roman Empire etc. etc. etc.

Facebook will "go away" when people get tired of it and decide they like something else better.

Just as well

with an SE they wouldn't even let you in the front door.

Yes, of course that's what they are 'saying'

What there saying, however, may be a little different.

I suspect the author's reading skills are a little better than yours.

re:XKCD!

Please: Gary Larson had about three jokes* recycled endlessly. Randall Monroe on the other hand manages to think up at least three new jokes each week.

*Wouldn't it be funny if animals were doing this,wouldn't it be funny if cavemen were doing this and the other one.

You're not the only one

to be reminded of Quake 2. That badly cooked lasagne lava looks very familiar.

Or, indeed, the luckiest

because, presumably, having chosen to marry Julie Burchill would mean you were some weird kind of masochist able to find pleasure in just about anything.

Yep

last time I used a phonebook was to replace a broken castor on a swivel chair. Tough buggers but unfortunately not much good against sheer forces.

Oh Please

If I use Google I will find a thousand different brands of lunacy - you need to specify which one you're selling.

I'll agree to your comparison

the day I get the chance to vote the chairman of Telstra* out of office.

*for non Australian readers replace with the name of your least favourite company.

Not here in Oz

We can multi-task!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/09/drug_runner_jailed/ for those who came in late.

Oddly enough, Tim

there are "asinine" people who do just that. Not the rental bit, of course, since you're not likely to find one at your local Hertz but a small genset trailer kept in the back or the garage makes a lot of sense.

Exactly

You write a cheque, you make a press release, your donation appears in the published list. Corollary: you earn goodwill or rather that goodwill is freely given in return. If on the other hand you make your generosity a part of a marketing scheme people will perceive your efforts as manipulative and in the context of a situation of ongoing death and suffering that clearly crosses a line.

So there's really no mysterious hidden rules - just common sense and a bit of basic human sensitivity.

Except

she's not, conversely, a flower arranger; she's a scientist and the computer is a tool of her trade. Now, I don't want to be too hard on her individually - It's easy enough to treat backups as "not a priority" - but I seriously wonder at the institutional culture that allows this sort of thing to happen.

I think you'll find Lewis' official reaction to the J-20 is

Ho-hum.

Probably

a bit too much glass for a destroyer. (Unless there's a conning tower hidden away in there somewhere.) I was thinking more along the lines of lighthouse resupply vessel. Definitely will not be appearing in the next Bond flick.

And one has suceeded

Already been done.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbiter_sim

OK, not strictly open source, but hell, this is a highly realistic simulator that is the work of one man. Imagine what a open source project could do.

Methinks

we need a sarcasm icon.