Posts by Mike Smith

Re: They've got this nailed in China

Drive or take the train to Canada or Mexico?

Re: Leave people alone

"In one case I read about they didn't wait for the police, but beat the old man up first; who was, of course, then arrested and tried with "hate". He died, being old and infirm and unaccustomed to this kind of punishment, before his "case" could come to court."

Could you post a citation, please? I'd like to understand a little more about that.

Cheers.

Re: In the news over the weekend...

We've doing this because of the overwhelming demand from the consumer..."

... for us to keep our snouts out of their lives, stop shoving unwanted technology on them and just supply gas, water and electricity in a cost-effective manner and not expect all and sundry to happily pay for yet another Crapita screw-up.

Re: Not so vulnerable...

Yep - Ernle Bradford's The Mighty Hood describes that. Apparently the Hood was always wet aft in heavy seas because a late design change to add more armour made her float about four inches deeper than was originally intended.

I gather that the change was made after Jutland had shown the dangers of plunging fire, but it was too late to redesign the ship from the bottom (or the keel in this case) up.

Re: but the '...w.dll'

If you look to the future, which is admittedly a bit of an ask for most current CEOs, it's not that much of a dilemma.

Defy, and be damned to the Americans.

The IT world isn't anything like as US-centric as it was even ten years ago - and even then, things were heading away from The Land Of The Free (TM). When I started in IT, longer ago than I care to remember, the US held most of the market and most of the knowledge. Now a lot of that has gone to India and China, encouraged by a generation of short-sighted idiots who were, and are, chronically incapable of seeing further than three months ahead.

In ten years time, I can see the US becoming a technological backwater, with its priceless technical and manufacturing capabilities thrown to the dogs by myopic bean-counters, egged on by the retards of Wall Street. The people I feel sorry for are the ordinary Yanks with families to support and roofs to keep over their heads, as they'll cop for the fall out.

Re: WELL DONE

I think what's it's saying is that Mohammed himself would have been pretty disgusted by the actions of those retards.

If it's aggressive in any way, I'd see it as a well-deserved extended middle finger to people who think that wanton murder is an acceptable way to respond to satire and criticism.

Re: While no form of bullying is pleasant...

'If somebody sets up a fake profile...'

That would be libel, pure and simple. Don't need new laws to bring an action for that.

Re: This is not going well.

Or she might soon be looking at real headlights as her car rolls down the ramp in the basement car park towards her.

Those fancy key fobs, y'know. Who would imagine that a single decisive press from an angle lower than the vehicle's sensor would unlock the steering, start the engine, drop a brick on the accelerator and drive the vehicle towards the key fob at top speed?

"OK, it's an edge case, but they still could have tested it," as the coroner is likely to say in a few weeks time.

Re: Oh dear

"When did people become such cowards?"

Plenty of reasons. The UK happily embracing American culture, to the detriment of its own. Trusting the flatulent cant of incompetent politicians who place more emphasis on style than substance, and who put their own self-interests ahead of the people who elected them. Mainstream media (yes, I'm looking at you lot over there, BBC) too afraid to directly challenge the government, especially Blair's junta. A populace who has been conditioned to expect The Government (TM) to regard them as people, when in fact each of us is just a tiny fraction of one statistic on a minister's report. A wilful blindness to America evolving from freedom to fascism and a consequent inability to tell Washington that Europe has forgotten more about tackling terrorism then they've yet learned.

If I were planning a terrorist campaign, I think I'd start by taking out all the TV stations and assassinating everyone importing American films. Cutting off the prolefeed might, just might, provoke the somnolent, the complacent and the downright stupid into taking a long hard look at themselves once their propaganda machine had gone and they actually had to think for themselves.

Hell, we can dream...

Re: What's so great about Blade Runner?

Soz - for 'American' read 'Hollywood'. Maybe Harrison's a bit short of the folding stuff these days.

Some interesting responses to my pot shot at a sacred cow, but I still don't see what's so outstanding about Blade Runner. The effects were certainly good, but they weren't exactly ground-breaking. People raved about Star Wars' effects in 1977, and 2001 is still utterly stunning. Classic film noir used light and shadow to equally great effect - The Third Man springs immediately to mind.

I thought the characters were very shallow - at least, they were well hidden behind the effects and flaky dialogue. Cinema is a visual medium, and it should be possible to follow the story with the sound off. You might miss a few subtleties, but if you lose the plot completely, it's a sure-fire sign that the script relies too heavily on dialogue.

Maybe it's because I prefer French cinema, and have grown used to its conventions. My own sacred cow is Jean-Jacques Beineix's Diva. Came out the year before Blade Runner and is still a superb example of bringing characters to life without them having to talk a lot.

Luxury!

Huh, you were lucky! We used to dream of 'aving a keyboard. All we 'ad were punch cards. Gaffer'd tek us cards and punch us wi' 'ammer. And we were grateful forrit.

Re: Lazy Lunacy

"how can anyone be expected to believe in it in a court of law?"

I guess that depends on what you mean by 'anyone'. It'll be the jury that decides, and that could be the weak point for the defendant and the killer for the FBI. Twelve reasonably-educated people would probably acquit instantly because of such dodgy evidence. On the other hand, Cleetus and his eleven good ol' boy buddies from the Holy Gospel Church of God down Deliverance County way might not need that much persuasion, given that it's a goddam foreign illegal doin' drugs 'n' shit on the web, y'all.

Re: I don't get Britain these days

"does that count as Godwin"

Not if you change the star for a crescent.

And yep, I could see that happening too.

Re: On the other hand,

Ammonium triiodide - yes, I like that idea. Only thing is, wouldn't the impact on the pellet from firing the gun cause it to explode in the barrel?

Just asking, as my chemistry knowledge is rather ancient now.

Re: Shock result

And President Putin immediately appeared on state TV to roundly condemn the 3% of No-voters as CIA-sponsored subversives, dissidents, intellectuals and terrorists, and to promise the firmest action possible against those who seek to undermine the free and fair democratic process.

Re: Circularity

"(I have my grandfather's birth certificate."

So do I. As I'm feeling puckish, 'cos it's Friday, I'm toying with seeing if I can slip it past a counter droid somewhere. Be interesting to see if they pick up on the 1874 birth date.

British site, British idioms. Whch are localiSed, cheers ears.

Re: Interesting list.

"since when was clitoris a dirty word?"

Since Puritanism gained a foothold in America.

Re: So it really is a religion...

"Just like Galileo was when he claimed that the earth went round the sun and had proof"

Ah no, he didn't. He couldn't prove it, and that was what landed him in hot water with the Inquisition. If he could have proved it, he would probably have been lauded by the church. But he still stuck to the Copernican idea of circular orbits and couldn't explain the inconsistencies in the planets' behaviour.

Newton proved it when he realised the planets' orbits were elliptical.