Posts by mhenriday 1222 publicly visible posts • joined 18 Dec 2009
is a most suspicious action and should be closely investigated ! Indeed, were such actions to be universally banned, we wouldn't get to see all those wars on the Telly anymore, now would we ? On the other hand, using the standard MPAA/RIAA methods of calculation, 7.6 x 10^17 USD in GDP and 100 million jobs would thereby be lost, so perhaps its best to allow business to go on - or not to go on - as usual....
Henri
that on the Legalweek webpage to which Thomas 18 so kindly provided a link, examples are indeed provided as to why the extradition treaty presently obtaining between the US and the UK needs to be revised, now did you ? But of course, reading comprehension skills which are adequate to perusing the Sun may find Legalweek hard going....
Henri
that's Citroën, merci ! And besides, the US government and its (in)justice system enjoys universal jurisdiction (wherever they can get away with it) - didn't they teach you that in school ? Why else do you suppose that 53 cents on every USD that the federal government manages to collect in taxes from the non-evading portion of the US population goes to military and (in)security related expenditures (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Q0Os3q2p86Q) ?...
Henri
from the Japanese to worry about a base in the Atlantic, where they have zero startegic interests.»
Matt, please ! We are all aware of your propensity to pronounce on matters of which you possess not the slightest knowledge, but do you have to make the display quite so public (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15916486) ?...
In any event, kudos to the Reykjavík District Court. Had the trial been held here in Stockholm, the decision would certainly have gone the other way, Which would merely have demonstrated once again, that when it comes to loyalty to the Evil Empire, we - ostensibly not a NATO member (although we prepared secret landing fields for US bombers during the cold war and flew spy missions for them, etc, etc) - are just as good lickspittles as any country that is....
Henri
that such things - «big blokes with swords invade. some of your mates side with them and come round demanding tax from you - some of which they pass on to the blokes with swords, spears and chariots, some of which they keep for themselves» - (mutatis mutandi, with more modern weapons) never happen today, innit ?...
Henri
to investigate objects in the Kuiper Belt with its infrared and ultraviolet spectrometers, a multi-colour camera, two particle spectrometers and a space-dust detector.» Not a chance ! When it discovers those «Russian dolls», it's not going to go anywhere, but break out the samovar and invite the dolls to tea....
Henri
If I remember correctly, the dastardly Chinese communists were the protagonists of Arthur Charles Clarke's short story «I remember Baylon», in which satellites were sent up to pump pornography into the homes of unsuspecting, innocent residents of the US in order to destroy their moral fibre. What a vile plot ! Of course, history didn't proceed in quite that fashion and the US turned out to be fairly good at producing its own pornography (I believe I first read the story in Playboy in 1960), but it is ironic that the Chinese are trying to protect their onw public from soemthing which might well have been - had reality followed the script of Sir Clarke's fertile imagination more closely - their own fault ! Perhaps they will learn from the US and include «parental controls» with every device that connects to the internet....
Henri
If I compose an A4 sheet describing the steps that need to be taken in order, say, to land an human on a asteroid and begin mining operations there and include a few sketches of the process, does that mean that NASA or ESA or Roscosmos or the Chinese National Space Administration have to start paying me if they actually implement such a procedure ? NASA has plans to put the James Webb telescope in a Lagrange 2 orbit (where the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, Herschel Space Observatory, and Planck space observatory are presently and the Chang'e 2 was previously located) ; if the space agencies responsible have failed to file a patent describing how one gets there and what (not) on Earth one does afterwards, can I file and then make them pay licence fees or some such ? Isn't this carrying the concept of «intellectual property» a tad too far - from the (not-so) sublime to the (pretty damned) ridiculous ? But please notice that I did qualify my first query, with the adverbial «in a sane world»....
Henri
to the effect that «good artists copy. great artists steal» admitted that «we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas» (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0DUg63lqU). I might add that Apple has always been equally shameless about taking other manufacturers to court when they are deemed to have come uncomfortably close to one of Apple's shameless thefts....
Henri
but isn't taking on «hippies» Lewis Page's job ? Of course, for Lewis, a hippie is a «scientist» (note the scare quotes) who disagrees with Lewis' own Olympian pretensions to the last word on «climate science» - or perhaps just an unfortunate individual whose national academy of science, through no fault of his or her own, happens to be long to the IAP (InterAcademy Panel - which happens to incude among its over 100 member organisations such «hippy» (my scare quotes) outfits as the Royal Society and the US National Academy of Science), so perhaps Dr Chopra, who definitely is *not* a scientist - with or without scare quotes, but who definitely is a successful businessman («entrepreneur» is, I believe, the term du jour) really wouldn't qualify as a true Lewis-Pagian hippy....
In any event, I have to agree with other posters here - employing Deepak Chopra to hold a keynote at the MS Worldwide Partners Conference seems typical for Microsoft's current leadership. I never thought I'd find myself feeling sorry for Microsoft, but with people like Steven Anthony Ballmer at the helm....
Henri
in «the scuffle in the park» and «[t]he assistant professor’s excuse for being beaten by a girl» than in the issue at hand, i e, whether the construction of yet another metallurgical plant in the Shifang area would, indeed, be damaging to the local environment (which is already very severely damaged) ? But given that he seems to find his intellectual mentors at «Beijing Cream», alles in Ordnung, as my German friends say....
Henri
Note to the Reg sub-editor who sets headlines : you may have noticed from the article that the «Chinese boffins» haven't built anything (yet), but rather have revealed plans to do so. Adding the simple infinitival particle «to» to that headline would give «Chinese boffins to build nuclear-powered deep-sea station», which corresponds far more closely to the situation described - after all, even Phil deserves a chance to get it right, for once....
Henri
for different reasons.» While I'm sure you're clapping for a great variety of reasons, Lewis, I found nothing in your article which would impel me to do the same. But one thing about your contributions never fails to amuse - the extreme skepticism you purport to feel about all reports of man-made climate change, etc, seems to be totally blown away (pardon the pun) when you report on new DARPA toys. All good fun, innit ?...
Henri
«there exists at least one (and we have found it)». Not being a specialist in the area, it's beyond me to pick holes in the original paper by Wolfe-Simon et al (https://e-reports-ext.llnl.gov/pdf/457014.pdf) and since the recent Science article (http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/07/06/science.1218455) by the Swiss researchers lies behind a paywall, I've been unable to access that, but the problem here seems to me to lie not so much in that that the first team were perhaps less careful in carrying out their experiments than they should have been and that new research indicates that the claims of substitution of As for P in nucleic acids of a certain Halomonadaceae strain were erroneous, but rather in that the first result was blown out of all proportion (due, perhaps, as David Pollard writes, to «fantasy for funding») in reporting to the media. Given the level of scientific literacy among journalists - and, perhaps still more importantly, the fact that «revolutionary» claims («faster-than-light neutrinos», anyone ?) sells advertising - I'm not at all surprised....
In any event, I'm glad to hear that our space-alien overlords will most likely use PO3 rather than ASO4 in their nucleic acids - 'twill no doubt help us relate to each other, before they eat us or whatever space-alien overlords do....
Henri
given that back in 2009, 48 % of Republicans in Texas would favour succession from the United States, according to a Research 2000 poll published in the Washington Post (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/republican-party/secession-divides-texas-republ.html)....
Henri
those working conditions that «were rightly outlawed in the West [whatever that is] long ago» are coming back, as trade unions are crushed and «venture capitalists» no longer are confined to deciding things behind the scene, but can push one of their own front and centre. But of course,as our house historian and ethical guide Phil points out in his inimitable style, it's all China's fault, as that country has «never [been] one to worry too much about human rights violations or international sanctions», unlike, say, the US in Chile, Nicauragra, Iran, etc, etc....
Henri
will grant Apple a patent on the Higgs boson (and any other Higgs-like bosons that may turn up) ? I suspect strongly that the company has already contacted a lawyer in Stockholm to present its claims to Peter Ware Higgs and colleagues when the time comes....
Henri
have a special cabin on the Ark, or were they towed ?...
Henri
PS : And what about Esther Williams ? And wet T-shirts ? Has the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also denied their existence ? These chaps are destroying my childhood and youth !...
«The LHC is due to announce its results at a scientific seminar at 7am GMT on July 4 ...» Wonder where you live, Brid-Aine - in my neck of the woods, Sweden, which lies one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland, 4 July 2012 is a Wednesday, not a Thursday....
By the way, the LHC does seem to have delivered a well-formed Higgs boson....
Henri
«The Navy — and the other armed forces — stores sensitive data only in standalone computers that are not connected to the Internet. These computers are not supposed to have ports or access points for pen drives or external storage devices. » Did they or did they not have USB ports ? It should be rather easy - even for a naval officer in charge of security - to ascertain with a simple ocular inspection whether a computer has USB ports. Is it possible that this story is made from the whole cloth and published in the Indian press in order to achieve the twin objectives of fanning anti-Chinese feeling in the country and obtaining larger appropriations for military security, while at the same time bashing the current Indian government ?...
Henri
that it's by no means an easy task to get to České Budějovice, even if one is a native speaker of the language and knows the region intimately, as described in the chapter entitled «Švejkova budějovicka anabaze» (Švejk's Budějovice anabasis) in Jaroslav Hašek's great work, «Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války» (The adventures of the good soldier Švejk in the World War). But they may be encouraged to know that with the help of his friends in the Austro-Hungarian military, he finally does succeed in making it to the town....
Henri
would immediately and irreparably harm Apple» Baldest admission I've yet seen from Apple that it is unable to compete on the basis of technological innovation, price, etc, but is forced to use «competition by lawyer» to maintain its position in the market. But some companies know no shame....
Henri
I've hitherto abstained from those bags and bags of porn, but of course, I can't be held responsible for what I'd be watching were Google were to come along and offer me a full Gb/s (never happen - here in Sweden, alas, we're always the last to get those Google goodies). As a certain Mr Wilde once observed, «I can resist anything but temptation»....
Henri
you'd realise that the US government successfully pursued a different set of tactics in that particular case....
Henri
You might want to take a look at the conditions in one US prison, as described by contributing editor Andrew Cohen at the Atlantic. It might be objected that this article refers only one US prison, of very many, which is certainly the case, as the US gaols more of its population in both absolute and per-capita terms (about six times as many per capita as in China, about 4.6 times as many as in England and Wales). Some indication as to how things are in many of the others can be found in this New York Times OpEd. As you see, no need whatever to introduce the irrelevant Chinese bugbear at all ; conditions for those who fall into the clutches of the US (in)justice system more than suffice as a reason not to send Mr O'Dwyer there, even were what he has done a crime in the country that has jurisdiction, viz, the UK, which it is not....
Henri
and thus elects to compete by lawyer, rather than by price or performance ? I suggest that, on the contrary, as Mr Asay writes : «... it [Android] gives underdog device manufacturers time to create dominant marketing brands, as Samsung has done». Apple is obviously running scared....
Henri
The Amis wouldn't let the Chinese play with the toys in what they regard as their sandbox (despite a lot of other countries and institutions who contributed to building it wanting the Chinese in), so the Chinese decided to build their own. They have even invited others to join with them and last year German scientists participated in 17 biological experiments in connexion with the launching of Shenzhou-8. Nice civilised behaviour ; hope those chaps on the other side of the Pond will learn from the example. But then again, they have to contend with a Frank Rudolph Wolf, which could lead to lapses in civility on anybody's part....
Henri
to gently meet at thousands of miles an hour, ...» Brid-Aine, I know you mean well, but isn't about time that all Reg bloggers who feel called upon to comment upon space endeavours first learn the concept of Gallilean invariance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilean_invariance) ? How fast the two objects in question were moving relative to our frame of reference here on the planet's surface is irrelevant ; what is at issue is how fast they were moving relative to each other. As Galileo pointed out 380 years ago in his Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo, that's the reason we are not blown off the Earth as it spins. After all, Galileo's work was removed from Index Librorum Prohibitorum as early as 1835, so presumably it's safe for Reg bloggers to read it now....
Henri
so long as one isn't seen as working against the interests of our liege lord, the US government, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of the MPAA, the RIAA, and the military-industrial complex. In that case, however, our judges, who with few exceptions all seem to be members of societies promoting the interests of so-called «rights holders», tend to give the accused before them short shrift. Makes little difference whether the defendents are the Pirate Bay Four, or Mr Assange....
Henri
hasn't accommodated to the pace of the modern world ? Thirty-three years is the blink of an eye ; after all, it took the institution 267 years to revoke the Holy Inquisition's verdict on Galileo Galilei and «Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo». What's not to like ?...
Henri
presumably because it’s busy scouting around the back of the lounge for spare change to pay the fine.»
More likely, Richard, that they asked the CEO (which CEO you'll have to guess) to rise from the sofa so that they could check the cushions.
On the other hand, had the Federal Court slapped a fine on Apple that really mattered, they might have received a friendly visit from those US Marines up in Darwin ; discretion is, after all, the better part of valour....
Henri
ever since the US invaded and deposed Queen Liliʻuokalani back in 1893 (since then, this business of deposing foreign governments and installing puppets seems to have become habitual). Mr Ellison's purchase of the sixth largest island is merely the latest indignity these beautiful islands have suffered. But no doubt, Mr Abercrombie does indeed «look forward to welcoming him»....
Henri
in standard Chinese is pronounced «gee-kuh» (not quite the IPA transcription, but I trust it will do), whereas the Urban Dictionary variation is pronounced «jaik». Or does he mean that since the US is the navel of the universe, the US pronunciation rules, and that Chinese users are/should be constrained to pronounce the name in that manner ?...
Perhaps Phil would be advised to consider the first definition on this Urban-Dictionary page : http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ignorance
Henri
doesn't signal an adoption of that «stack 'em high sell 'em cheap mantra» which made Acer's products something to be avoided. Lenovo has a well-deserved reputation for quality ; I hope that the firm's leadership realises how important it is to maintain that reputation. But presumably Lanci's new position means that only we who reside in the EMEA area have to keep our guards up....
Henri
on aerial devices that fly around talking pictures, videos, whatever of people ; note this recent Wired article : http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/06/64-drone-bases-on-us-soil/. Alas, against these machine, Rik's advice «to close your drapes» is unlikely to prove effective....
Henri
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