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* Posts by Admiral Duncan

4 publicly visible posts • joined 9 Jul 2012

Brit physics student debuts zombie flick shot inside LHC

Admiral Duncan
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Re: Nice story, Good quality recording,

No plot + cheesiness + bad acting = brilliant zombie movie!

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Explosion of DANGEROUS IT GEAR injures and CRIPPLES MEDICS

Admiral Duncan
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Coffee/keyboard

Re: Homo informaticus?

Perhaps the fact that you're working with computers for the whole day means you're more aware of how to minimise the risk of getting RSI, back/neck pains, etc. It should also mean that you get a decent adjustable chair, desk, wrist rests if necessary. OTOH doctors are running around a lot to check their patients and computers are just another tool. If it's causing pain to a significant number of users then maybe it should be seen as a design problem, in the same way that if users consistently make mistakes when using poorly written software we should blame the developers or UI designers instead of always blaming the user.

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UK snoop system had 1,000 COCKUPS - including 2 duff cuffs

Admiral Duncan
Linux

Error rates and the loss function

Were the people who were arrested adequately compensated? If the response of the authorities was "sorry, tough luck" then it doesn't matter if your error rate is only 0.000000001%, it's still to high. OTOH if for example the compensation covers total financial loss + £1m compensation, then a higher error rate would be acceptable, not withstanding the fact that a £1m penalty should be a big incentive not to make errors in the first place.

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UK judge hands Samsung win for being 'not as cool' as iPad

Admiral Duncan
Devil

An Etch-A-Sketch isn't a hand-held computer

The original judgement:

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html

includes these words of wisdom

"17 Samsung pointed to differences between the lists of features relied on by Apple in the various parallel proceedings. I did not find analysing these differences to be a profitable exercise."

and

"44 The term "handheld computer" is the Art 36(2) indication of the product in the Apple registered design. Whatever the correct definition of the relevant product is in relation to the Apple registered design, I would be surprised if it included an Etch-A-Sketch."

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