* Posts by David Nash

1434 publicly visible posts • joined 15 Jul 2008

USA seeks Moon and Mars nuke power plant designs ready to fly in 2027

David Nash Silver badge

Re: What are they going to do with the heat?

Radiation is radiation. There's no "inefficient" way of radiating. You might be thinking of convection.

Butterfingers who don't bother with phone cases, rejoice: New Gorilla Glass 'Victus' tipped to survive 6ft drops

David Nash Silver badge
Mushroom

Re: Is dropping your phone common?

Dropping onto the point of a stone is probably more damaging than a 6-foot drop where it lands flat, or even on the phone's edge.

It only needs to be a small stone, like on a road, and all the energy of the drop gets concentrated onto that spot.

Sick of AI engines scraping your pics for facial recognition? Here's a way to Fawkes them right up

David Nash Silver badge

Re: That's already been done by Magritte

I wondered why that particular example was chosen. Probably for this reference.

'First ever' snap emerges of something vaguely resembling our solar system 300 ly away. We'll take 10 tickets

David Nash Silver badge

Re: Are those numbers right???

Don't forget that the force due to gravity is a function of the masses of both objects, so the attraction of Gas Giants to their sun would be greater than that of small comets (assuming a giant has a giant mass, despite being gas), even at that great distance.

After all, galaxies manage to attract each other too at relatively vast distances. Gravity goes on forever, in theory.

If you can read this, your Windows 10 2004 PC really is connected to the internet no matter what the OS claims

David Nash Silver badge

Similar but not quite the same

I wonder if it's related? One W10 laptop in my house has recently and intermittently begun throwing up a dialog box stating that Wifi is switched off, when it clearly isn't.

Ethernet works, it just doesn't want to use the Wifi.

Rebooting didn't help reliably but sometimes disconnecting and reconnecting the (not actually switched off) wifi does work.

Black hole destroys corona

David Nash Silver badge

Leaving astronomers "bewildered"?

Leaving astronomers very interested.

FTFY

Why do some news stories feel that scientists have to be bewildered, baffled, etc, when observing something not seen before.

As credited to Asimov (possibly): "The Most Exciting Phrase in Science Is Not ‘Eureka!’ But ‘That’s funny …"

United Arab Emirates’ Mars probe successfully launched and phones home

David Nash Silver badge

Re: Honestly no idea what are they proud of

According to the BBC story:

"Emirati and US engineers and scientists worked alongside each other to design and build the spacecraft systems and the three onboard instruments that will study the planet."

and

"considerable work was also undertaken at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in Dubai."

and quoting the University of Boulder, Colorado LASP spokesperson:

"Their propulsion engineers have now done it and they know how to do it the next time they build a spacecraft."

So let's not take it away from them. Anyone putting together a Mars mission for the first time is going to need to lean heavily on others' experience.

TomTom bill bomb: Why am I being charged for infotainment? I sold my car last year, rages Reg reader

David Nash Silver badge

Re: As I read that

It wiped the car. It just didn't wipe Tom Tom's customer database, which is not in the car.

Keep it Together, Microsoft: New mode for vid-chat app Teams reminds everyone why Zoom rules the roost

David Nash Silver badge
FAIL

Re: Blu Tack

My camera doesn't need the Blu-Tack, Teams just stopped recognising it overnight.

Never mind rail and ports, let's help DPD... and, er, Amazon: UK gov and ESA call for ways to slap logistics with 5G stick

David Nash Silver badge

Seems a bit back to front

I may have misinterpreted but it sounds like they are saying, we have this wizzy new 5G thingy, does anyone have any idea what we can use it for?

A volt from the blue: Samsung reportedly ditches wall-wart from future phones

David Nash Silver badge

The point is, pretty much everyone who will be buying one of these will already have a compatible charger. Are you saying they have to bundle an unwanted charger to maintain their "high end" image?

After huffing and puffing for years, US senators unveil law to blow the encryption house down with police backdoors

David Nash Silver badge

Re: stupidity out of ignorance or avarice

It's not at all unreadable.

Although there is an interesting spelling of "intents and purposes".

Someone got so fed up with GE fridge DRM – yes, fridge DRM – they made a whole website on how to bypass it

David Nash Silver badge

Re: Advertent FUD

And vice versa, although the scaled-up kettles and everything else is a pain, if you grew up with the taste of hard water, soft water is not nice to drink.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes: UK man gets 3 years for torching 4G phone mast over 5G fears

David Nash Silver badge
Boffin

Re: @ Iglethat & "since hes proven that hes a gullible idiot"

The only planets that change shape, "much like the moon" are Venus and Mercury, because they are between us and the sun, also "much like the moon". The shapes seen are explained by the fact that they are round "much like the moon".

The other planets we can see (yes I have several telescopes and have verified this) are always seen as round, because they are.

Contact-tracer spoofing is already happening – and it's dangerously simple to do

David Nash Silver badge
Facepalm

Smishing warning

I got a warning from Three in the form of an SMS telling me to click an anonymous-looking link to get more info.

David Nash Silver badge

Re: This is not how security works

Exactly....they've confused false positive with false negative.

Even if it is obvious when you're talking to a real professional, it doesn't mean that it would be obvious if you are talking to a scammer.

Quibi, JetBlue, Wish, others accused of leaking millions of email addresses to ad orgs via HTTP referer headers

David Nash Silver badge

Re: URL referral should be talked about more

Passing on the referrer as the *page* you came from is one thing, but passing on the full url including personal stuff like this is more than some might expect.

So how do the coronavirus smartphone tracking apps actually work and should you download one to help?

David Nash Silver badge

Re: Good for data-less phone plans

It seems that many people don't wear watches these days because they think it's quicker to get their phone out and view the time than tilting their wrist. These people may not agree that this kind of device is useful as you said.

But these people probably would just use a smartphone app.

My issue with this is that I don't leave Bluetooth on all the time.

Ofcom waves DAB radio licences under local broadcasters' noses as FM switchoff debate smoulders again

David Nash Silver badge

Re: Why National for a station called "London Live"

The actual quote from the article is " 1.47 per cent of the UK's total potential viewers"

and I read "potential" as "London".

Marriott Hotels hacked AGAIN: Two compromised employee logins abused to siphon off 5.2m guests' personal info

David Nash Silver badge

Agreed, I received one of these and wasn't sure if it was genuine, due to the varied domain names used.

It would not be unexpected to receive a phishing email claiming "click here to see if your details were compromised"

It's time to track people's smartphones to ensure they self-isolate during this global pandemic, says WHO boffin

David Nash Silver badge

People do need to think for themselves a bit, not just say "anything not explicitly prohibited is a good idea".

The way the virus was escalating through Europe at that time meant it was a stupid idea to travel for such a non-essential reason.

Google reveals the wheels almost literally fell off one of its cloudy server racks

David Nash Silver badge

Re: Why bother?

Both.

You do work by transferring energy to the rack, kinetic to get it moving, and potential if you are lifting it, even 1mm.

It's worth noting that the SI unit of both work and energy is the same thing, the Joule.

Also not a physicist so please correct me if necessary.

Stuck at home? Need something to keep busy with? Microsoft has 115 ideas – including an awful SMBv3 security hole to worry about

David Nash Silver badge

Re: Imagine a user...

Users are not normally aware of the OS as a separate thing.

It's just "the computer", "my stuff", and "the internet". And the second two are overlapping.

Grab a towel and pour yourself a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster because The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is 42

David Nash Silver badge
Thumb Up

DNA in Birmingham

I met Douglas in a bookshop in Birmingham when I was a student. He was there with co-author Mark Carwardine for a signing of Last Chance to See. A group of us from the RAG society heard he was there and decided to go down dressed in suitably menacing attire and flan him with a plate of shaving-foam, as was the habit back then, as part of the charity fund-raising we did.

To his huge credit he was well up for it and afterwards signed my copy of the book "with deep hatred and resentment".

Your phone wakes up. Its assistant starts reading out your text messages. To everyone around. You panic. How? Ultrasonic waves

David Nash Silver badge
WTF?

Re: Stupid millennial pranks

The Castle Defense...defending against the terrifying attack known as "knocking on the door"?

Artful prankster creates Google Maps traffic jams by walking a cartful of old phones around Berlin

David Nash Silver badge

Re: Knew it.

To be fair, all you have to do is think "how does Google know there's slow traffic here?" and the answer is pretty obvious.

Microsoft: 14 January patch was the last for Windows 7. Also Microsoft: Actually...

David Nash Silver badge

Re: it's all curable, and worth it

Ditto wifi got broken on Win 10 by a driver update.

Fortunately I know how to roll it back. Others may not have been so lucky.

Apple sues iPhone CPU design ace after he quits to run data-center chip upstart Nuvia

David Nash Silver badge

Of course a deposit is a loan

Loans and deposits are the same thing but the parties are the other way round. And no, not all deposits pay interest but that's down to the specific terms of the deposit/loan, as are the details of where how much can be paid back and when.

Why is the printer spouting nonsense... and who on earth tried to wire this plug?

David Nash Silver badge

Re: DIY Electricians

Upvoted to compensate for downvotes - nothing wrong with asking a question if you don't know the answer and would like to be educated.

UK parcel firm Yodel plugs tracking app's random yaps about where on map to snap up strangers' tat

David Nash Silver badge

In Other Words, the Isle Of Wight.

BBC tells Conservative Party to remove edited Facebook ad featuring its reporters

David Nash Silver badge

HIGNFY

Since you stopped watching it a long time ago, how do you know it's not funny any more?

Not being funny when you stopped watching (whenever that was) doesn't mean it isn't sometimes or regularly funny.

'Ethical' hackers say: It's just hacker. To be one is no longer a bad thing

David Nash Silver badge

It doesn't matter what the origins or "real" meanings are, to the media hackers are bad, and so the term needs the "ethical" label when they are not.

Similar to how the media redefined Troll to mean bully.

Can't you hear me knocking? But I installed a smart knocker

David Nash Silver badge

Re: Well that was a waste...

1. RTFA

2. Ask the product designer, not the end-user

3. That would have spoiled the story. By the way what's the difference between an "apartment" and a "flat" in your world? In mine, apartment is an up-market (or left-pondian) word for flat.

4. RTFA

5. I wouldn't bother reading any more of SFTW if you don't get satire.

UK ads watchdog slaps Amazon for UX dark arts after folk bought Prime subs they didn't want

David Nash Silver badge

Re: Prime is evil..

Prime is actually quite good and useful for some, it's just these sales techniques that are evil.

Margin mugs: A bank paid how much for a 2m Ethernet cable? WTF!

David Nash Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: Adelphia

Oh cable TV company...I thought it meant HDMI cable seller

So we're going back to the Moon: NASA triggers countdown by firing up spacecraft production

David Nash Silver badge

Re: Party-Pooper

The Earth can take care of itself really, what we're really messing up is the atmosphere that supports human and other life. If we kill ourselves, the Earth won't really care, it will carry on regardless.

The moon doesn't really have anything to take care of in those terms.

UK Supreme Court unprorogues Parliament

David Nash Silver badge
Happy

I'm finding it all rather entertaining!

Remember that security probe that ended with a sheriff cuffing the pen testers? The contract is now public so you can decide who screwed up

David Nash Silver badge

Re: Pentesting

Their job was to test security, not to break in without getting caught. They did their job very well. They guys who caught them passed the test.

HP printer small print says kit phones home data on whatever you print – and then some

David Nash Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: validation

on the subject of validation - why oh why don't they write these things to ignore trailing spaces?

I KNOW my email address (or my phone number etc) doesn't have a trailing space but my predictive keyboard inserted it..just ignore it!

Snoops can bypass iOS 13 lock screen to eyeball your address book. Apple hasn't fix it yet. Valid flaw? You decide

David Nash Silver badge

Why?

It's probably not that you would want to change the "To" field, , rather it just drops you into the standard sending text dialog, where changing the "To" is a normal feature.

Facebook: Remember how we promised we weren’t tracking your location? Psych! Can't believe you fell for that

David Nash Silver badge

Re: iOS & Location Tracking

What are you confused about? That's the whole point of the article.

Apple programs Siri to not bother its pretty little head with questions about feminism

David Nash Silver badge

A "Holly" personality would be a nice option for these devices. Not that I use them but it would make it more tempting.

Whistleblowing saboteur costs us $167m bellows Tesla’s accountant

David Nash Silver badge

Re: Are you f**king kidding me?

"Fast charging stations are for the development version of electric cars. Production electric cars will have easily replaceable battery packs constructed to a universal standard."

That's the sensible solution but it doesn't seem to be the actual case. As far as I know, no production electric cars have this type of battery pack nor are there places to do so.

Unfortunately the focus, in the UK at least, seems to be on increasing charging points rather than changing to replaceable batteries.

GIMP open source image editor forked to fix 'problematic' name

David Nash Silver badge

Re: "aping whatever the Windows equivalent looks like"

Closes alright for me.

I never understood the complaints about the GIMP UI. I guess it's Photoshop people annoyed that it's not identical.

Can't bear to part with that well-worn copy of Windows 7? Microsoft might let you keep it updated an extra year

David Nash Silver badge
Thumb Up

Just because something is old, doesn't mean it needs to be replaced.

This. Upvoted.

What is it with hosting firms being stonewalled by Microsoft? Now it's Ionos on naughty step

David Nash Silver badge

Not the first time

The same thing happened earlier this year too. Ionos resolved it but it took a few days.

My MacBook Woe: I got up close and personal with city's snatch'n'dash crooks (aka some bastard stole my laptop)

David Nash Silver badge

It was the OP that mentioned life, not the reply.

Researchers peer into crystal ball to see future where everyone's ID is tied to their smartphone

David Nash Silver badge

Re: Brainwashing campaign

and in some countries when you pay with contactless you still have to enter your PIN too in any case.

One person's harmless japery can be another's night of LaserJet Lego

David Nash Silver badge

Re: ORLY?

"I've seen people daily use a link in an email they got years ago rather than make a shortcut or bookmark."

A link in an email *is* a shortcut!

You can't say Go without Google – specifically, our little logo, Chocolate Factory insists

David Nash Silver badge

Re: I don't see the value in Go.

"I dislike the verboseness of Java and C#; to me a sign of developer incompetence"

You start by suggesting that verboseness is a feature of those languages but then say that it's because of the developers.

Which did you mean?