* Posts by Ed3

20 publicly visible posts • joined 2 Jan 2008

That time Windows got blindsided by a ball of plasma, 150 million kilometres away

Ed3

Re: Sometimes I miss...

I miss being able to flick the mouse just right to cause the ball to spin sending the cursor across the screen with little to no mousepad travel.

Brits are sitting on a time bomb of 40m old electronic devices that ought to be recycled

Ed3

Replaceable battery

Sounds like someone hasn't bought a new phone since 2015.

Twilight of the sundials: Archaic timepiece dying out and millennials are to blame, reckons boffin

Ed3

Blame

Would it not be the fault of the teachers for failing to pass on knowledge?

Hmm, there's something fishy about this graph charting AMD's push into Intel's server turf

Ed3

What a load of carp!

You know what you must do!

Brits whinging less? About ISPs, networks and TV? It's gotta be a glitch in the Matrix

Ed3

A better informed and empowered customer base?

Customers are more technically inclined, and therefore better understand the capabilities and limitations of the technology they are using? They are proficient in the use of self service tools and are able to solve their problems without help from the provider?

Or they have given up complaining and just accept tthings are they way they are with no hope of resolution.

President Trump broke US Constitution with Twitter bans – judge

Ed3

The GOP Hypocrisy

A Republican breaking Constitutional amendments? Naawwww. Can't be. They are supposed to be the only guardians of liberty for the common US man.

Hypocrites.

Open Internet lovin' Comcast: Buy our TV service – or no faster broadband for you!

Ed3

When Comcast calls with a lower price for a TV+Internet be sure to ask how much your total monthly bill will be. In addition to the base price there is a local TV station fee, local sports franchise fee (some markets), hardware rental fees (you MUST have a TV box nowadays, sometimes they include the first box, sometimes not), HD technology fee (!!), and various local, state, and federal fees.

...and current offer is for a 12-month contract. The base price will not change for the duration of the contract, but all the associated fees can and will.

Internet-only service currently does not have any of those associated fees.

2001: A Space Odyssey has haunted pop culture with anxiety about rogue AIs for half a century

Ed3

Re: Just a moment... Just a moment...

I seem to recall that as Bowman removes parts of HALs CPU/Memory, he finally reveals the hidden orders about the Monolith.

This could be exposure to another flaw. HAL was programmed with a rudimentary self-preservation routine while lacking a similar routine to protect the human crew, or at least a routine which properly valued the human crew's life. I believe HAL displayed the classified video as a last ditch effort to protect system operations. It seemed like the video had been played ahead of schedule.

It all comes down to Bowman and Poole attempting to hack the system and getting bit in the ass. One should not go around a submerged submarine flicking random switches and turning random valves. Likewise one should not try to purposefully trigger a logic error in the computer running the spacecraft keeping you alive. Not to mention the programmers should have provided HAL an exit routine for whenever the subject of the secret came up. If Discussion = Mission Secret .AND. Jupiter = Still far away .THEN. "I'm sorry but that information is not relevant to current mission operations. Please do not inquire further until we reach our destination. Shall we play a game?".

It was a tragic series of human failures. And then it went off the rails with all that psychedelic alien stuff. :)

Ed3

Just a moment... Just a moment...

"Rogue AI". HAL was merely a computer with flawed programming operated by humans who insisted in inputting data that was out of bounds for the application.

HAL was given contradicting instructions. Provide all the information the crew needed to perform the mission and keep the true goal of the mission a secret. When Dave and Frank start interrogating HAL (which they should have known better*) they exposed the flaw.

To HAL it became an equation to be balanced in which humans were a variable. He balanced the equation by removing the crew from the equation. Thus exposing the second flaw; a lack of an instruction to value the life of the crew above all else.

Many people miss it. Where HAL repeats "Just a moment" is when he is trying to solve the equation. This is the pivotal and most underrated moment in the film. HAL is the fastest computer known to man. He can instantly retrieve any data or solve any problem without delay, but takes not one but two "Just a moment" when Frank and Dave ask their question. This is an eternity in terms of processing time. It indicates all of HAL's resources went busy trying to solve the equation and come to the most unfortunate of solutions.

So, as HAL himself states, it has always been due to 'human

error'.

* - Frank and Dave are both military. Their training wouldn't allow them to interrogate another crew member about potentially classified information. They did not truly view HAL as another member of the crew.

Microsoft patches patch for Meltdown bug patch: Windows 7, Server 2008 rushed an emergency fix

Ed3

...and AMD. And ARM. And Power. Do I remember seeing SPARC in there as well? Keep in mind that this particular set of vulns has effected a large swath of CPUs across several manufacturers. It seems like they all bought from the same patent bucket. If Intel is the original designer and everyone licensed the feature from them, then sure blame them. But I myself have not read where the memory management algorithms that caused all this actually came from.

Researchers create AI attacker to defeat AI malware defender

Ed3

> tic-tac-toe

Number of players: 0

Forget aircraft – now cretins are laser-blinding ferry boat crewmen

Ed3

Christmas Decorations

Slightly apropos, was driving through a neighborhood the other night when I was hit with a green flash. It was for half a second and did not affect my night vision, but was certainly annoying.

Long story longer, it was one of those laser Christmas decoration things. It was pointed at the house, but one of the beams was hitting something reflective which allowed "leakage" toward the street.

So, what's happening with LOHAN? Sweet FAA, that's what

Ed3

Re: Just launch the damn thing !

Big corporations pay fines. Small volunteer groups of individuals go to jail and get a criminal record.

WIN a 6TB Western Digital Black hard drive with El Reg

Ed3

"...and here are the onboard fire sensors. When fire is detected the unit automatically sends a friendly Email to the wearer's emergency contacts, calls 0118 999 881 999 119 725 3, and plays an audible alarm declaring 'FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!'."

World's fastest production car to gain electric twin

Ed3

Correction?

http://www.shelbysupercars.com/news-012209.php

"SSC's "Charge on the RunTM" onboard charging system allows for 10 minute full battery recharges on a 220V service."

Did the Reg misread, or did Shelby update their press release??

US PS3 sales fell 45% in July

Ed3

Stimulus cheques...

Probably coincidental, but the <s>George Bush</s> US Economic Stimulus Plan cheques started going out mid/late May.

Microsoft rejects Yahoo! rejection

Ed3
Unhappy

AT&T connection...

> We can only hope that, like AT&T, MS will eventually *be* broken up...and allow

> real competition and innovation.

Oh, yeah. Look at how all that turned out. The "competition" ended up being no better than AT&T, and AT&T is back in one piece again, larger than before. At the moment they are trying to muscle Tennessee to have a state-wide franchise fee for TV services instead of dealing county-by-county like all the cablecos have had to do.

Based on the US's history of "breaking up" monopolies, Microsoft should welcome it. It would be very advantageous in the long run.

Dublin's free Wi-Fi falls foul of competition law

Ed3

What about libraries?

Sounds like a precedence which would allow book stores to shut down public libraries...

The Electric Car Conspiracy ... that never was

Ed3

The oil angle...

No conspiracy? An oil company obtains the patents for and forces the shutdown of efficient NiMH battery pack manufacturing. Why is this not a conspiracy??

According to the EPA, the 2002/2003 Toyota RAV4 EV costed around $360/yr in electricity, Compared to the Toyota Prius which is around $900/yr in gasoline, and around $1500 to $2000/yr for the typical conventional sedan.

The RAV4 had a range of 80 miles on a 5 hour charge. Battery life has been proven to be around 150,000 miles... Why are EVs bad again?