Etymology
A knowledge of insects always comes in handy ...
Posts by Fink-Nottle
794 publicly visible posts • joined 5 Apr 2012
El Reg is looking for a new London sub-editor
Google Nest slurps your life into the Matrix? The TRUTH
Backup bods Acronis extend disk-imaging support to Macs at last
Higgs boson even more likely to actually be Higgs boson - boffins
Monday 23rd June 2014 13:44 GMT
"the team from the CMS Collaboration, which includes boffins from Imperial College London, Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and the University of Wisconsin, fired protons at each other in a six metre diameter solenoid"
It'd be a tight squeeze, but it sounds like they had fun.
Did they use modified paintball guns?
Titan sprouts 'Magic Island', say astroboffins
Finding the formula for the travelling salesman problem
Wednesday 18th June 2014 18:14 GMT
Re: The key..
> experience and insight on the part of the dispatcher
Sadly, such old-fashioned industrial 'craft' often isn't valued.
What never fails to blow my mind are those old-time analog gadgets that solve computationally hard problems. I've used a planimiter to 'automagically' find the area of irregular solids, and there's the classic example of the soap bubble Steiner tree.
http://highscalability.com/blog/2012/6/13/why-my-soap-film-is-better-than-your-hadoop-cluster.html
Tom Hanks NICKED my COPYRIGHTED PIC, claims Brit photog
Monday 16th June 2014 19:13 GMT
Re: Humbug
> You may not like it but the Army Act 1955 was superseded by the Armed Forces Act 2006 which has no such provision.
I apologise for my initial comment.
You are indeed correct. Since the repeal of the Army Act 1955 anyone is free to wear their relative's medals.
> It is highly unlikely that an organisation such as The Royal British Legion would actively promote breaking the law by encouraging you to wear a relatives decorations. I suspect that the authority to allow a person to wear another’s medals has been delegated to the Royal British Legion.
I believe the BL rules to be consistent with the special case of posthumous medal presented to next-of-kin. I suggest that the British Legion FAQ supports this reading.
Sunday 15th June 2014 20:45 GMT
Re: Humbug
> Aren't you a joyous individual. The man is proudly displaying and honouring his father's achievements and heroism. Not passing off as your sick suggestion would make him out to be.
I did not imply that he was passing off his father's medals as his own. I am aware of the custom of wearing a family member's medals on the right breast on Remembrance Day and, as a number of commentards have pointed out, provision for this is made in the Ceremonial Rules of the Royal British Legion. Nevertheless, although the practice is generally accepted I believe it is not officially sanctioned.
The point of my previous post was that an analogy can be drawn:
It's unlikely the photographer would be aware that wearing his dad's medals does not conform with the letter of the law. Similarly, it is unlikely that Tom Hanks (or more likely a staffer) was aware that posting the image would fall foul of copyright law.
Also, just as wearing his father's medals is not an attempt by the photographer to claim them as his own, it is equally improbable that Tom Hanks intended to pass off the images as his own.
As the OP noted, this is more than likely a case of 'casual ignorance'; to claim that attribution has been stolen is unnecessary hyperbole.
Friday 13th June 2014 21:11 GMT
Humbug
I note that Tim Martingdale stated on his website that he'd be wearing his dad's medals on Remembrance Sunday.
The official position is that you should not wear medals other than your own.
I suppose the moral niceties of attribution and rights only apply to your own works when you're a commercial photographer.
DINOSAUR BLOOD: JUST RIGHT, as Goldilocks might say, if drinking it
So, what exactly defines a 'boffin'? Speak your brains...
Whoops! Google's D-Day Doodle honors ... Japan
Freeview's rumoured '£100m YouView killer' is real – and it's yet another digital TV thing
Evidence of ancient WORLD SMASHER planet Theia - FOUND ON MOON
Friday 6th June 2014 18:47 GMT
Planetisimal?
"The Moon was probably formed by a catastrophic collision of the proto-Earth with a planetesimal named Theia."
I think the word the boffin was searching for was protoplanet.
My understanding of the term planetisimal is that it describes the smallest possible aggregation of matter that can be called a planet - usually defined as that size where gravitational attraction overtakes brownian motion in the accretion process.
It's improbable that a teeny, tiny planetisimal was responsible for moon formation. On the other hand, a massive protoplanet could deliver a decent sized whack to the early earth.
Android is a BURNING 'hellstew' of malware, cackles Apple's Cook
Google's Nexus devices get stealth Android update
What data recovery software would you suggest?
Sunday 1st June 2014 19:32 GMT
Hard Copy
Backup & Recovery is a good read on the subject - as is the author's website.
The hoarder's dilemma: 'Why can't I throw anything away?'
Saturday 31st May 2014 09:19 GMT
Lost Youth
My S.O. decided to tidy up the junk room. While I was glad to see the back of most of the 'puter related tat, unfortunately she binned my prized HP25C calculator - complete with original packaging and manuals.
The 25C was my last tangible link to the bright young lad I once was. I worked the summer break between school and uni to afford it and it served me faithfully through my student years. It had great looks and a fantastic tactile keyboard. It would hang from my belt in it's little pouch like a wild west gunslinger's shootin' iron and I quite prided myself on my ability to rattle off a calculation at the drop of a hat.
It's sad to loose a part of my youth, but there's a lesson to be learned. Look after the things that are dear to you, coz no one else will ...
Apple: Scrubbing may not yet have cleansed iThings of BLOOD
Google's driverless car: It'll just block our roads. It's the worst
It's Google's no-wheel car. OMG... there aren't any BRAKES
Tech that we want (but they never seem to give us)
French teen fined for illegal drone flight
Friday 23rd May 2014 18:42 GMT
Re: Stupid bureaucrats
> "In this article ‘a small unmanned surveillance aircraft’ means a small unmanned aircraft which is equipped to undertake any form of surveillance or data acquisition."
> This aircraft is clearly covered.
We'lI have to agree to disagree, because I don't think it's clear at all. A camera is necessary but not sufficient to equip an aircraft for surveillance. However, if Knowles was 'done' under the 50m rule then clearly the judge was of the opinion that S167 applied.
Friday 23rd May 2014 15:47 GMT
Re: Stupid bureaucrats
> It would be the same here; such a flight would be contrary to the Air Navigation Order.
That's not entirely true. In the Nancy case the teenage apparently lacked proper training and air authority permission to fly in an urban space. The Air Navigation Order merely states that "The person in charge of a small unmanned aircraft may only fly the aircraft if reasonably satisfied that the flight can safely be made."
There are more restrictive ANO rules that apply to unmanned surveillance aircraft, but using a camera to record the flight of a small unmanned aircraft does not equate to surveillance - a distinct activity carried out "for the purpose of influencing, managing, directing, or protecting" people or property.
(In Mr Knowles' case, his model aeroplane strayed into a no-fly zone over a BAE facility which is entirely different kettle of three-eyed fish. )
US skywatchers get Earth's first peek at new meteor shower
Space hackers prepare to reactivate antiquated spacecraft
E-cigarettes help you quit – but may not keep you alive
Wednesday 21st May 2014 10:16 GMT
Re: Nike
> My missus would say it is the best thing that I have done in years ;-)
I was a lifelong twenty-a-day smoker. I tried on numerous occasions to quit, but always failed. Five years ago my partner, who had never smoked a cigarette in her life, was diagnosed with lung cancer.
I went cold turkey on the same day she had a lobe of her lung removed, and haven't smoked since. As you can imagine, the realisation that my habit may well have seriously - nearly fatally - harmed a loved-one was sufficient motivation to stop smoking.
After being exposed to the hard realities of lung cancer I would never consider inhaling anything for pleasure. However, for those who enjoy the smoking habit, at least ecigs reduce the second hand risk involved.
Urinating teen polluted 57 Olympic-sized swimming pools - cops
Tuesday 20th May 2014 22:45 GMT
Re: only poor people drink tap water
> Tax on the gullible
During my time working in research labs I had access to the nessecary analytical instrumentation, and I objectively tested the effectiveness of my undersink carbon filter / silica filter system to my own satisfaction. There is no doubt in my mind that removing particulates, organics, chlorine etc improves the taste and odour of tap water.
Beam me up Scotty: Boffins to turn pure light into matter
Achtung! Use maths to smash the German tank problem – and your rival
Brits to vote: Which pressing scientific challenge should get £10m thrown at it?
Tuesday 20th May 2014 18:07 GMT
Re: Paralysis
Who does the NHS pay?
Medical suppliers.
There you go.
The Reeve foundation has some figures on the cost of living with spinal injury.
They conclude: "By developing therapies for those who are already spinal cord injured and preventing new injuries, the United States would save as much as $400 billion on future direct and indirect lifetime costs."
Any industry worth $400 billion (in the USA alone) will undoubtedly attempt to ensure it's continued profitability.
Tuesday 20th May 2014 14:05 GMT
Paralysis
What is more profitable: a one-off £3000 operation to repair spinal cord injury in a 20 year old patient, or the opportunity to supply the same patient with a (vastly profitable) £3000 wheelchair every 2 years for the next 60 years?
A cure for paralysis will never happen while the medical mafia are able to make vast profits providing over-priced 'medical' products to a captive consumer base.
'Executed ex' of Norkers' bonkers Kim Jong-un rises FROM THE GRAVE
BEAK DRONE: 1080p HD Wi-Fi quad-copter by Parrot takes to skies
Hey, does your Smart TV have a mic? Enjoy your surveillance, bro
Monday 12th May 2014 19:09 GMT
> they have MI5 watch your house until you leave, they break in and install a listening device in your TV
That's what NCC group did in the article: "Installing the bugging software requires physical access to the device, which is how we did it".
However, Wi-Fi enabled smart TVs auto-connect to an unencrypted wifi network when prompted. In these circumstances, physical access isn't needed - a TV remote booster and a laptop are all that's required to install the malware.
The OP asserted that a smart TV could remain secure simply by not connecting it to a user's local network. It's a fallacy to assume that is the case with a wi-fi equipped smart TV.
Stephen Hawking: The creation of true AI could be the 'greatest event in human history'
Sunday 4th May 2014 13:59 GMT
Re: Oh dear
> Remember we invented the stone axe, and perhaps that was the biggest event in human history. We survived that too. It's not the tool it's all about how to use it.
There's a possibility that it was the Neanderthals who invented the axe, and sharing that invention led to their ultimate extinction.
http://www.livescience.com/38821-neanderthal-bone-tool-discovered.html
Apple tips Shiraz down all its techies' throats (that's the rumoured name for OS X 10.10)
SpaceX: We NAILED the Falcon 9 landing! The video, on the other hand...
Thursday 1st May 2014 20:05 GMT
Re: Not much hope
> Since they were unable to recover the booster
The reports I've read state that they were able to recover some parts of the booster. Further, according to SpaceX the footage is "original video data from the first stage landing, recovered from the Falcon 9 onboard camera".
This implies that the onboard camera was among bits they were able to recover.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
