* Posts by ihouse@scmf.co.uk

3 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Jun 2007

Beavis and Butthead in London jihad

ihouse@scmf.co.uk

You have to get the oxidiser JUST right

When I was at school, one of the most popular things I did that nearly got me expelled was filling draws in the Physics lab with gas from the bunsen burners, then lighting them.

A draw completely filled with gas was useless. If you got it to light, a medium-sized flame would add the smell of burning wood varnish to the already incriminating smell of the gas.

My speicality was being good at judging how much gas to put in, so that it mixed with the air in the best ratio. The best I managed blew the draw 4 feet across the lab, just reaching the next bench.

A car filled with patio gas isn't going to go off. You could sit in there flicking your lighter - it wouldn't light and neither would you (although you'd soon be unconscious from lack of oxygen.

If a detonating device actually blew out the windows, allowing the gas to mix with the outside air, AND it kept detonating (or producing some sort of ignition source) for long enough, then it might set off the gas. You'd get a big pop and a pretty fireball. You might get your hair singed within 20 feet or so. The flame might even blow itself out.

The only real danger I can see is the petrol gets lit and then burns for long enough to heat the gas cylinders to the point of exploding. How many people will be standing around watching by that point?

There wer some other horrifying aspects they forgot to mention in the reports. The "device" included dangerous poisons like dioxins (flammable car upholstery), materials intended to injure people at a distance (friable car safety glass) and deadly shrapnel (well a car is mostly made of metal). Never mind the complex data aquisition modules (we ICE is pretty good nowadays).

Dell cleans up crapware

ihouse@scmf.co.uk

maybe new PCs NEED some bloat

It's easy for the more techincal readers like us who visit El Reg to deride bloatware. But some (just some!) of this crap makes sense for unsophisticated users.

If Microsoft could make a genuinely secure system, or if Windows included decent security software - but it doesn't and if it did it would increase Microsoft's monopoly and destroy the industry that has grown to address the problem.

I thing a Windows PC SHOULD come with AV installed, and should make your life unpleasant (NOT impossible) if you try to connect to another PC or the Internet without it. What is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL though, is a proper, complete, working uninstall routine. My company used to buy a lot of NEC computers. The first 2 I got my hands on had to be factory-reset after unsuccessful attempts to remove Symantec. Eventually, 2 hours on the phone to Symantec pointed me to the un-documented and hidden uninstaller program, that still didn't remove LiveUpdate.

I think something similar can be said for add-ons like the Google Pack. Yes, you or I might install one or two of these programs when we choose and when we're ready. A "normal" user wants to start NOW. He/she doesn't want to download programs and wouldn't know which ones anyway. Again, an essential for any "bloatware" program is a GOOD uninstaller.

My current HP laptop NEARLY has it right. There is a SWSETUP folder containing all the drivers and software, and there is a menu-driven program in the start menu that let's you tick what you want to install/re-install. If I uninstall Sonic RecordNow, then decide I don't like Nero (why!?), a few clicks and I've got Sonic back without fuss. The only place HP went wrong was that most the software was on the "Recommended" list and pre-installed. However, Symantec was "Optional", so I never had the pain of trying to remove it!

One thing I completely agree with - NO TRIALWARE! If the manufacturer wants to give you some software, they should GIVE it. If you're only going to have a chance to try something out, then it expires, that should be the user's choice as to whether they try it in the first place. (Except AV/Security - you have to have that in some form or another).

So what's in a URL? The Reg URL?

ihouse@scmf.co.uk

Stick to .co.uk

Whilst I recognise that The Register has a lot of American contributors and covers a lot of American subjects, I have always appreciated the fact that it continues to present a definitely British flavour.

There are other American-based technology websites with .com addresses and I look at them occasionally. theregister.co.uk is front and centre on my Google homepage and I check it several times daily.

I think you should use the .co.uk, because The Register IS a British website - dealing with international topics, but from a uniquely British point of view. Is Britain really so insignificant (don't answer that) that Americans would have difficulty remembering the domain suffix for El Reg?

I know .com SHOULD be a global domain, but it's "overwhelmed" by the Americans. If only they had gone for .usa, things might be different. As it is, .com's globality (is there such a word?!) is diluted by all the non-global companies using it.