Posts by FartingHippo

Re: I'm impressed

That would be "gateau", mon ami.

Re: dedupe

Or chunkify(TM) the data such that, given enough input data, several chunks will match but will decrypt into different data depending on the key. Reassemble files on the fly from a chunk index or chindex(TM).

Re: Just add silicon nano-spheres too

I dunno, now they've got a proven concept the "big money" has the potential to bring a lot of resources to bear on making the spheres cheaply. When you think about it, it's nuts that you can buy a knock-off tablet when for under £100, considering the technology hidden within, not to mention assembly and distribution costs.

Silicon is also marvelously abundant - no danger of it becoming a costly material in its own right.

Re: Play hard to get

"Laid head-to-toe" is also about 0.75m out of the optimum position, which of course involves a 50% overlap...

Re: Lo-tech alternative

I'm guessing you just used paint during Movember, thinking nobody would know the difference. (Hint: they did)

Re: Biometrics?

"So, a laptop with a fingerprint scanner is less secure than one with just a password. The attacher can choose which method to attack, there is no protection from a poor password AND there is the opportunity to try a gummy finger cast or other false fingerprint method."

1. Less secure - I don't think so. The typed password should be a back-up, only used in the event of a hardware failure. As it's a backup then usability constraints can be dumped in favour of security: a 30-character random string which you keep on a bit of paper in a locked drawer (or under your mattress if you like). Hopefully you'll never have to use it for the life of the laptop. String length and complexity of backup should IMO be mandatory (again, usability is secondary), to stop the password morons doing their usual thing. Financial losses by password morons hit everyone - you don't think the banks just suck up the loss, do you?

2. Gummy finger casts don't work with the new vein scanners, thankfully, leaving bolt-cutters as the only realistic alternative for a crook. This is still better than a Minority Report or Demolition Man style eye removal.

Re: Oh good, can I have a couple of neighbours arrested.

Ouch!

Re: Does it affect the Foxit standalone reader?

Thought I'd switch from Foxit to Sumatra, but the fugly 1998-style website didn't fill me with confidence. All looked a bit two-bit for my taste, although Sumatra's focus on simplicity was good, avoiding all the security pitfalls of over-complication. Hmmm, on second thoughts, there may be a theme here that bears further inspection. To be continued...

In any case, props to Krzysztof Kowalczyk, Sumatra's author, for his vowel-aversion.

Re: Let's face it...

Congrats, you win a shiny new tinfoil hat.

[by which I mean, i really, really, really hope you're wrong]

Re: More like...

Er, did you not read the article's title. It's the bit in the big font.

Working fine for me too.

Apple are going to walk away with the laptop of the year, as the voting for the rest of the field will not so much be split as splintered.

Re: Correlation != causation

Indeed. I also note the research was suspiciously paid for by Kenco.

Ok, I made that last bit up.

Re: Adversity breeds ingenuity

"Cheaper to have the meter moved"

Only if you don't put the genny back on ebay at the end, surely.

Hydrogen would be fine

They fill the electrical generators at power stations up with hydrogen which acts as a coolant, and reduces drag. This has been done for decades. 'Course there they have a slight over-pressure, a shed-load of monitoring, and decent extraction systems to prevent a bang, but it goes to show that with a bit of thought and design effort, hydrogen could be a viable alternative.

Wikilink

Re: Hmmm.

You're doing it wrong. They're meant to dispense money, not pleasure. Although to be fair, the former is often a nice way to get the latter...

@oldcoder

"Hydrogen has twice the lifting capability"

Nope, by that logic a vacuum chamber would have an infinite lifting capacity.

The lifting capability if the difference between gas density and air density. The molecular weights are:

i) Air: 29 (approx)

ii) Hydrogen: 2

iii) Helium: 4

So the hydrogen has an advantage of 27/29 to 25/29 (or 8% more). Hydrogen is lovely because it's dirt cheap, not super-floaty.

For mugs only

I also liked their return policy (and remember, you've just forked out $3.5k for 3 feet of cable):

Any custom Locus Design cable may be returned within 30 days for a refund, if for some odd reason it does not perform as expected in your system. A 20% restocking fee (of the the total price) will be charged and any shipping charges incurred will be the responsibility of the buyer.

Nice.

most ppl now days don't use hibernate

What do you base that on?

Anecdotally, I'd say a hell of a lot of people still use hibernate, certainly enough to make this a big deal.

"I wonder how they resolved it"

Their HQ is now in Bermuda, on a large yacht anchored just off the beach.

Re: I thought I was smart till I read this

Jet packs, JET PACKS, JET PACKS!! Why do people always forget about the *'#?ing jet packs!

Priority. Number. ONE.

Ahem. I think I need to get our more.

Also...

...how to take a shower very, very quickly.

<<< His face after taking a shower too slowly.

Re: Ahahah...

So ... you're a loyal customer then?

Ah, Google

Any sensible company would be at Google's gate, cap in hand, asking for those nice maps back, pretty please. However, I think Tim Cook would rather burn the company to the ground before doing that.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall of the chocolate factory's mapping department. They must be loving this.