Posts by Dave Bell

Re: Another Big Patch Day, and a Week of Start Up Repair Routines

My ancient EEE came with Linux, out of the box.

It was OK, but ASUS cocked up the support a few months later, and I switched to Ubuntu.

Re: Not a new idea ...

If they're using a laser to a shore station, they have to be in line-of-sight. The horizon would be about 17 miles from the ship. The shore station wouldn't be on-shore, but would have more height. You're not going to get clear of the 200nm economic zone. That would need a 20,000 foot tower.

About the only advantage I can see is the possibility of in-person visits by US nationals to external programming teams. And getting the non-US personnel to the ship looks tricky.

As far as pay and tax collection go, I suppose that there are precedents for the crew of ships.

It all sounds a bit far-fetched. I wonder how much money will be spent on the "planning" before the investors in the company notice nothing is happening.

Re: Ooh, it's sooo difficult!

Er, you do know how long we have had those things for?

Even the Ministry of Defence is older than the Prime Minister.

Re: Ohboy.

I am not sure whether that means that the Canadian rules are too strict for US corporations to wriggle around, or whether it means the Canadian system doesn't get suckered by exaggerated claims for losses.

Re: Great article

I agree, it wasn't Acorn and the ARM which failed.

But there is something about the British industrial and financial environment which seems to let the winnings from these works of genius drift away out of reach.

Its not just globalisation, and some factory that is so expensive to build that there can only be one on the entire planet. And we can't expect to spot the right investment choice every time. But what is it about this country which turns a successful entrepreneur into somebody fronting a TV show that tests how people can run a market stall in Essex?

Re: F-22 and Anoxia / Hypoxia

What I remember is John Noakes getting training from the RAF before making a high-altitude parachute jump. They gave him experience of anoxia, in a way that demonstrated just how much he didn't realise he was suffering the effects.

I'm not claiming to be any sort of expert, but that memory makes me wonder what's wrong with the higher ranks in the USAF. Not every pilot would make a good ngeneral, but that's why you need pilots in the higher ranks. Or maybe Blue Peter viewers.

Re: "Publish to Nook" button in Word?

The Nook uses the ePub format, which can be produced from a Word file by free software. And past experience of Word outputting HTML files (which are the basis of the ePub format) more than curbs my enthusiasm.

The example of the Amazon Vanity Slush-Pile doesn't help.

Re: They're definately screwing things up

I think that one may be a difference between the US and the USA. Do you see a difference between google.com and google.co.uk?

But it does look as though a checking system is over zealous. That does seem an obvious case where Google should give results for the search term as entered, while giving the option for the alternatives. I know the typing errors I make.

Re: Sadly the reality is that the life of a child may depend on an iPhone app

I wouldn't trust mental arithmetic.

I'm one of the last generation to have used a slide rule in exams. You need to know what you're doing, arithmetically, to use one of those. You have to at least estimate the order of magnitude. These days, everyone punches the buttons on a calculator, me included. And, while I am slower than I was, I can still stop dead, seeing an answer which screams "wrong", and wonder if I pressed the wrong button.

I would be very wary, myself, of an application doing this sort of thing which doesn't log every calculation. I don't expect it to get the arithmetic wrong. It's inevitable that data entry will be imperfect.

Re: prince of darkness

And they really don't like it when you tell them you've noticed it's a form letter. Why do they think they can get away with claiming such a lengthy and carefully phrased reply was typed up in ten minutes?

Re: Of Course They're Cluless

It could kill some of the spam phone calls, like the foreign call centres which try to persuade me that they're some sort of "Windows Technical Centre". But how do I report the fraud attempt to anyone who will take a blind bit of notice?

Re: @Lockwood

That's not how I read the report. They're the two nominated finalists, not the winners.

It looks as though it is going to be hard to choose.

Re: He we go again ...

I've seen arguments that it's the electric and magnetic fields in the vicinity of the catapult that would be an issue. It might need some things kept further away from the catapults. That has some plausibility, and i wouldn't want to route a data cable alongside a catapult. But the thing is going into a steel box. Is it really going to be a big problem with that sort of inherent screening?

(I bet BAE will tell you it's going to cost a lot to be sure.)

Re: A highly specious argument.

I can see what you're getting at, but I think you are mistaken.

Copyright is essentially about documenting who owns something. In the old US system. there was a requirement to register copyright, just as there are registers of land ownership. It's a sometimes imperfect extension of the ideas of property and real estate. You can, especially in the digital age, drag in some sometimes non-obvious economic theory. You can steal a printed book, because the person you steal from can no longer use it. If I were to "steal" a file from your computer, you would still have the original.

Privacy also depends on ownership rights. And sometimes gets complicated: when you rent a hotel room, do you have a right to privacy? In English law, there is a conflict between the right of a tenant to privacy, and the rights of the landlord to protect their property. There have been court cases. There are are words such as "reasonable" in the statutes. But at the heart of that balance is a clear identification of the parties to the contract.

I suspect we all are over-simplifying a bit, and the whole idea of an absolute property right can be challenged. If you want to blame William the Bastard for it, feel free. But, in the world we have, it isn't stupid to associate privacy with property rights, and some way of documenting ownership.

I don't want my privacy to depend on registering copyright with some government office. Which is why I dislike some of the assumptions that seem to be common amongst Americans. Some of them don't seem to have realised that US Copyright Law has changed to implement the Berne Convention. They have the same automatic copyright as us unfortunate Europeans.

But, wherever we are, it seems that money talks. Google can make money out of playing fast and loose with our privacy. And, too often, money shouts, screams, and throws the mother of all temper tantrums.

As far as privacy and copyright go, the various corporates and collectives are getting away with acting like spoiled children.

Think of the adults, please.

Re: Kindle Touch

It is the same as the current version of the Kindle, a USB lead which also allows you to transfer .mobi files from your computer, such as those available from Project Gutenberg. The touch screen doesn't have much appeal for me, but it's a natural enough upgrade. How does it work with a screen-protector film stuck on?

Re: Do you have children?

That case was relatively local to me, and a week or two after I saw it reported, it was reported that the laptop had been returned and the restrictions ended.

The man, it seemed, might have had his laptop exploited by Malware, and used as a distribution site. I don't claim expertise on such things, but most of the news media are capable of getting computer stuff badly wrong. Are Social Services any better at understanding the story they have?

Re: "this is too little, too late."

I've had the chance to compare prices for the same goods from both the Channel Islands and the High Street, and the price difference is a lot more than the 20% down to VAT. Though sometimes the pricing might be a little lower than the seller would like, because it gets under the limit.

The VAT exemption is a great thing to scream about, but it's a long way from all the story.

Re: Box

If the mouse-mats are in good condition, they might be sort of collector's item. Or frame them and use them as a retirement memento for the old-timers. But they're probably worn out.

Re: Who's better, Who's best

Sarah Jane has to be on any sane shortlist. Who might win from such a shortlist maybe depends just how old we were when they first appeared.

Re: Boffinry

I understand that the boffinry qualification test in the rocketry department has to include hydrogen peroxide and cardigans, Bonus points for Morris Dancing.

Re: Merely a case of extending the logic of Corporate Web 2.0

The usual web-site copyright grab makes some sense as an attempt to allow the website to function: think how much copying happens as the data is viewed. And I don't think there's much chance of removing the data from any back-up system. So they end up having to talk about some sort of perpetual and non-exclusive right.

It's one of the non-piracy reasons why current copyright law isn't a good fit with the internet.

There are parts of UK copyright law where it matters who provided the raw materials, photography is one. There are probably more court decisions than any non-specialist can know of which could be applied to this contract. My own view is that we're all suffering from the side effects of the aggressive IP enforcement which happens these days. Projects such as this one would rather be mocked than sued.

A smart lawyer can probably draft a better contract in their sleep. Too many people don't even realise that publishers only need a licence.

Copyright 2012 David G. Bell

(The Register looks to do this sort of stuff right.)