Posts by Captain DaFt

Re: $185,000?

I'm in! Well... as long as I get the domain are.twats. :)

Or just go old, old school

Two words: Throwing Stick

Readily available, easily used, surprisingly damaging.

https://www.hedgehogleatherworks.com/Throwing-Sticks-For-Wilderness-Survival-s/83.htm

"Once a week they should lock Satya Nadella in a small room for about 10 hours with a 150dB loudspeaker system that repeats "NOBODY WANTS THIS RUBBISH" again and again."

Nah, that'd be pointless.

Better to lock him in a room with a blank computer, Win 7 Install DVD, and AT&T internet connection, then not let him out until he had a fully updated Windows 8.1 installed.

But then, we'd probably never see him again.

Re: "Fingers crossed they’re the Spielberg ones"

"Hopefully the sub-title is referring to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "E.T.", not "War of the Worlds"."

There was a Speilberg 'War of the Worlds'?

Go on, pull the other one! Next you'll be claiming there was more than one 'Matrix' Movie!

Re: Obvious response:

But the patent mentions 'Cloud'! It's this year's version of 'on a phone'.

Re: well..

"if life ever developed on Mars, and if anything survived the changes in the planet's ecosphere over the aeons, the most likely place to find it would be in that ice."

I think Valles Marineris would be a better bet for life if it exists/existed on Mars.

Formed as Mars cooled, the depth (up to 7Km), should yield a denser atmosphere, plus its alignment (East-West), depth*, and location (Equator), should presumably be warmer than at the surface altitudes.

No doubt it contains caves and overhangs which could harbor residual ice, and maybe even seasonally temporary pools of liquid water.

Unlikely, but we'll never know for certain until we look.

*Mars is too cold for a molten core, but it still retains some residual heat.

Re: a fictional fatty?

"Say it ain't ture!!!!!!!!!!"

Calm down, but it isn't true, he's actually quite svelte:

http://harlanellison.com/review/beast.htm#Santa

Re: you forgot to mention...

"That you have to design and build the CPU (and the rest of the device as well)"

And for those of you that want to get started on that:

http://www.evilmadscientist.com/2013/paperclip/

;)

"Can somebody explain to me how this is supposed to work?"

Well, I am not a physicist, but my take on it as follows:

Picture the electrons as little spinning gears, for arguments sake.

In normal non-magnetic materials, the electrons aren't oriented, and their spins are all in different directions, like gears facing in all directions. The total magnetism is null.

In magnetic materials, the electrons are aligned, and their spins have the same orientation, like aligned, but unmeshed gears. Their 'torque' is aligned, giving rise to a total magnetic field.

In frustrated magnets, the gears are aligned, but 'meshed', so each electron's spin causes its neighbor to spin in the opposite direction. Total magnetic field is null, like normal non-magnetic materials, but aligned, like magnetic materials.

Apparently, the theory they're testing is that it's the alignment, and not the total magnetic field that generates the Hall Effect, at least that's my unschooled take on it.

Anyone have a better understanding?

Re: diagnostics....

With a glass of water?

Re: Bank Holiday?

For it me, it was, "caped staircase acrobat", that had me guffawing. Shame they don't let you vote on articles anymore.

Re: Vista wasn't that bad in retrospect.

Vista's biggest problem was the longevity of XP.

Up to and prior to XP, Microsoft's stance was:

Upgrading Windows? Then you needed upgrade your old computer, or get a new one, and be ready to get all new peripherals, 'cause the new Windows don't play nice with old stuff.

Then XP came and stayed, and stayed, and stayed.

Computer's got faster and more powerful, peripherals evolved ever more complexity, No problem, XP chugged right along. like it had for years.

Then Came Vista, with the same "obsolete everything" paradigm of old, but times had changed. People were used to everything working with Windows, no matter how old or new, and PCs were competing with phones and tablets that 'just worked' out of the box.

As further salt in the wound, In order to push Vista, Microsoft allowed retailers to slap it on 'Vista ready' systems that could barely run Vista, let alone any useful software with it.

That one-two punch killed Vista, and left a dazed Microsoft looking around and noticing for the first time that they no longer had everything their way.

Re: "walking sack of crap"

Who says they know they're being recorded?

Just search on your engine of choice for 'hidden video camera' or better yet, 'hidden video camera alarm clock'.

Heck, for that matter, how many people would pay attention to the laptop, touch pad, or smartphone just casually lying on the dresser with the rest of the stuff, 'recharging'?

Da fuck? I pay a pound, I better get more potatoes than that!

Re: Well of course...

"But Google is doing it in an *ethical* manner..."

April fools was yesterday.

Unfortunately, this one came out yesterday, and isn't an April fools joke, just the usual Firefox crap.

There is a fix: In about:config - set browser.selfsupport.url to ""

Or... just switch to Pale Moon or SeaMonkey.

Re: Underfloor can be much worse!!!

And don't forget that Underfloor bends the rules of reality!

There's the old rule that if a cable has one end, it must have another... but I've seen a run where that was only a suggestion.

(Most of a day spent tracking a cable, only to arrive at the end I started on... Twice! After another guy had similar luck, the boss said, "fukkit! Just run a new cable.")

Re: iVac

"waiting for the iVac. Should be the only Apple product that doesn't suck"

Damn, I remember when this was a Microsoft joke!

Re: In the US they burn the crops in the fields

Remind me of the story about a big marijuana bust in Florida.

They burned the pot in a field near a seabird sanctuary.

No tern was left unstoned.

Re: As someone from the con / geek community

"Now that tech is "cool" and is where all the jobs, money and prestige is, you have the usual gender studies parasites attracted to it."

Now that you mention it... You never hear feminist raging about the almost total lack of women coal miners, do you?

Re: Tsk, tsk, Cisco,

"how could you do that ?"

They answered that one two days ago: http://m.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/24/the_final_horror_networks_without_sysadmins/

Alvaro Retana said during the interview:

"The other part is that really good security and operations don't necessarily see each other in the eye. If I do really good security, operations will be harder.

And people are in this to make money – if you're a service provider you're in this to make money."

Re: Drones should be very limited

"We certainly don't need or want a lot of drones flying around to cause both aviation and populace issues."

Oh, They're coming. The biggest industry in The US will lobby like Hell, and then...

At the vending machines outside a gas station:

"{Bzzz} Hi! I see you're about to purchase a beverage. I'd recommend a Nice Refreshing Sparkle soda -The Soda with Style!

At the bus stop:

"{Bzzz} Hello commuters. Just a reminder that Rancor Motors is offering a sale on the fuel efficient, stylish 2023 Electron - The World's smartest Smart Car! If you owned one, you'd already be at your destination! Buy now, get Easy terms, and no money down!"

Just out walking:

"{Bzzz} Tired of your current wardrobe? Snooty's High fashion Apparel is on sale at Vlecks, just two blocks away!"

"{Bzzz} Snooty's is sooo twenty teens! Be fashionable and comfortable in a new Kanor Wardrobe, for sell at all Titor department stores, Take a left at the corner for the closest one!"

"{Bzzz} Bah, forget those clothes horse fad rags, Denton's store has comfortable, affordable clothing in styles that never go out of fashion! Just go back two..."

{Bzzz} {Bzzz} {Bzzz} {Bzz..."

At the accident scene:

"Bzzz" Don't worry, emergency services have been called, Thanks to Dight, Dighter, and Dightest, Office of Reliable Liability Lawyers. When you're ready to sue, call Dight, Dighter, and Dightest!"

I fear for the future.

"Where is the third blind mouse, Oracle?"

Geez, are you trying for critical mass?

The three of them working together on a browser could well trigger the internet apocalypse!

Re: Security?? Wot's that?

"Now, <evil grin> if only it were possible to connect 'em in reverse to the grid as motors...."

More realistically... if these (or a similarly controlled big boy) are on the grid; Could they be used as a back door to the power company's computers?

"Yeah, this windmill's saved me a fortune in power bills, since I used its interface to 'vanish' from the power company's billing dept!"

Re: Bah....

"No holographic screens and images seemingly floating in mid-air?"

Yeah, whatever happened to volumetric displays, any way?

https://youtu.be/9af-aX-UDDM

Re: In other news

"Almost nobody's buying snakeoil

Bad news for the producers and sales droids. But good news for the snakes."

Don't be silly. Why would a snake want to be squeaky?

Re: It is Ma that needs help here

"She has 3 choice is life. Become criminal, CEO or politician."

Don't sell her short. There is a fourth option: She could always pick a religion and become an Evangelist.

Re: OK, I think I've got it...

"How does "not covered in shit" fit into that explanation?"

Please don't pick at the metaphor, or it'll leave a nasty scar.

"That's why there's so many changes in the ETA. At first it's "It wont be ready for ages", now it's "just a few months!" - either their ability to estimate time-scales is poor,"

Actually, they put this guy in charge of Marketing ETA.

Re: "prevent the breading of mosquitos"

"Mosquitos should be seethed in larks' vomit,"

Well, to be fair, if I found myself in lark's vomit, I'd be seething too!