* Posts by Armando 123

1116 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Aug 2011

Page:

METEORITES, not MEN, are FROM MARS: NASA rover's shock discovery

Armando 123

Re: Greenpeace doom mongering

"So women might be from Venus. They destroyed that one and moved to the next one too."

Explains its runaway temperature. All the women couldn't get warm, all turned up the heat, and hence the lead-melting surface temperature.

OAR-some! 18ft SEA SERPENT discovered off US coast

Armando 123

Re: "“It’s one of these rare weird things you see in Southern California,” Chace said."

In Southern California, the weirdest and rarest thing would be "common sense".

Alarming tales: What goes on INSIDE Reg hack's hi-tech bedroom

Armando 123

Best alarm clock

Get a beagle with a small bladder. After two carpet cleanings, you are AWAKE at the quietest whine.

Last living NEANDERTHALS discovered in JERSEY – boffins

Armando 123

Re: ...NEANDERTHALS discovered... on JERSEY SHORE...

Please. Such pompous stereotyping is impuning the Neanderthals, and I'm not having it!

Stallman's GNU at 30: The hippie OS that foresaw the rise of Apple - and is now trying to take it on

Armando 123

Re: Bzzzzzt!!! Wrong!!!

No, libertarians are freedom obsessed zanies -- people like Jefferson, John Adams, Franklin, Madison, Mason, Herbert Spencer, and H.K. Mencken provide good examples of libertarianism before it was called that.

The basic idea is that some government is necessary but government's tendency to grow for its own benefit at the expense of others means that government needs to be kept in check.

Take a good hard look at government anywhere and sensible people some something in it.

Judge orders probe over Samsung execs viewing secret Apple docs

Armando 123

Re: Fandroids and Fanbois apart

"And different from ANY other megacorp how?"

No. I've worked in situations that required some delicacy and most corporations do not condone this sort of thing. Even if you doubt their ethics, they mostly want to avoid situations like this.

Armando 123

Re: Fandroids and Fanbois apart

Not only that, but if someone notices that people can access documents they shouldn't, they are required to notify the appropriate people, per a pre-defined protocol, as soon as possible.

I've done work on military projects, other government contracts, HIPAA data, worked at a place which the FTC had required to be split into two companies for anti-trust reasons, and worked with firms pursuing lawsuits. While I don't know the specifics of the rules in this case, I do know enough to know that Samsung is in deep trouble. Judges and other legal authorities do not take kindly to protocol issues when they are unintentional. They tend to view you on how you react to such things. In Samsung's case, it looks like it was with full knowledge and that they are being uncooperative. They could be in for a long, expensive court battle.

Samsung denies benchmark cheating, despite evidence

Armando 123

Re: What's next?

Denying court orders about document confidentiality?

All rivers flow into the sea: Apple holds TEN PER CENT of corporate America's dosh

Armando 123

Re: What about "non-corporate"?

As privately owned companies, they don't have to publish asset reports like publicly traded companies do.

Armando 123

Re: Green apples

One problem: cash made overseas is taxed AGAIN when it's brought into the US, and at a fairly high rate at that. You try explaining to your shareholders why losing thirty-five cents on a dollar just to move money around is a good idea. Better yet, explain that to your wife.

Washington Post officially sold to Amazon's Bezos for quarter of a Tumblr

Armando 123

Let it go

I've seen a lot of hand-wringing over who will report wrongdoings and be a watchdog when newspapers go away. However, in my fair city, the radio and tv stations have been doing a much better job of this in the nearly twenty years since the newspaper was sold to a national conglomerate.

All we get nowadays are articles sucking up to rich people, shouting about the governor trying to be fiscally responsible in an economic downturn, and demanding higher taxes on working people to pay for bigger government. Given the somewhat conservative/libertarian leanings the city has, they aren't exactly targeting the largest market.

Newspapers had their day, as did buggy manufacturers and hula hoops. They are being killed by craigslist, the web (particularly Google and other news conglomerators), and so on. Hell, they never even adjusted to CNN delivering national and international news, let alone the internet. Better to let them die than to keep the pain going with life support.

A £30,000, 295bhp 4G MODEM?!? Must be the Audi S3 Quattro, then

Armando 123

Have to say this

"neither are fast hatchbacks"

Sorry, no. My wife just got a new car so I just started driving my old VW Golf after years in an SUV. A ten year old Golf is still a damn good car and fun to drive compared to a land barge, and now that we live in a city with traffic circles and roundabouts everywhere I am tempted to dirt-track it when dropping off the boys at school.

As an old f@rt, I hope I never get over a good, sporty hatchback. I can still haul the kids and dogs but still have fun when the mood hits. (And the diesel engine is still getting 44MPG aftter ten years.)

500 MEELLION PCs still run Windows XP. How did we get here?

Armando 123

Re: XP? Pah!

I have a Hyundai.

'Modern warming trend can't be found' in new climate study

Armando 123

Hm ...

So, this bit about warming stalling in the 90s. Isn't that when solar actiivity peaked? And haven't other planets/moons shown a similar pattern of warning?

You know, that big hot thing in the middle of the solar system just MIGHT have something to do with this.

BlackBerry ripped itself apart wooing CIOs AND iPhone fanbois - insiders

Armando 123

Wow

"Rows over whether BlackBerry was at its best as a hardware or software company led to years of paralysis"

That's because they were neither; they were a solutions company. But that's what happens when you define yourself on other people's terms.

Samsung: Sod off Apple, we've made gold mobile phones for way longer than you

Armando 123

Brilliant

"We made tasteless gaudy tat long before you did."

Well, sign me up for that.

Plastic ingredient FOUND ON MOON of Saturn

Armando 123

Titan isn't that unpleasant

It's the only place in the solar system where you can shatter ewoks in a lake of farts, as discussed in that excellent QI documentary with Brian Cox and Ross Noble.

Armando 123

Re: Excellent

@DonJefe - [STANDING OVATION] I wish I could upvote that many times, but I no longer live in Chicago.

Ubuntu 13.10: Meet the Linux distro with a bizarre Britney Spears fixation

Armando 123

Re: @ Pete 2 - Reversing Moore's Law

"I remember the most hate about WIndows 95 was ..."

I remember the Windows guys saying "if I wanted a Mac I'd have goten a Mac". Take ten seconds to ponder that.

Armando 123

Re: Reversing Moore's Law

"Personally, I'd much prefer a user interface that contained one simple question and a box for the user to type, write or speak the answer."

So, a text-based version of Microsoft Bob, then?

Bill Gates: Yes, Ctrl-Alt-Del salute was a MISTAKE

Armando 123
Big Brother

Missing a key point

" Harvard Campaign, a fundraising drive designed to raise $6.5bn for the Ivy League university"

Harvard is the best funded academic institution in the world, sitting on hundreds of billions, enough cash to fund a third world nation for decades or to buy a US Senator for two weeks. The last thing this world needs is more money to go to the one institution who sends people to Wall Street, the US government, and Hollywood.

That's a money spinner: iPod wheel patent bout bags bod £2m from Apple

Armando 123
Mushroom

Wait, I'm confused

Do we like this because we hate Apple, or hate this because we hate patents?

Please El Reg readers, tell me what to think!

Apple blings up new iMac with latest Intel chips, next-gen Wi-Fi

Armando 123

Re: Next gen WiFi???

"Do people still think hiding behind anon makes them look superior?"

Don't worry, the good folks at NSA know.

Greece ends extra hols for civil servants forced to use hated computers

Armando 123

Re: Oh, the irony

California has one of the highest tax rates on businesses in the US. The "too much democracy" argument is one that I often here from friends in California who work in the public schools, etc, ie in the government system.

If anything, that has exposed the problem in California. The government sector has grown quicker than the private sector, by a large margin. (Recently I saw a report on this for various US states, I think at The Cato Institute site, and it was pretty interesting.) Some of the citiies in California have already had to be bailed out, and the state isn't going to be that far behind.

Armando 123

Re: Turning up for work

"If there's one thing the average bank worker does, it's work far, far harder than workers from most industries."

I wouldn't say it's harder per se -- I used to work on farms and as a lumberjack, so I am aware of what hard work is -- but the jobs in banking do require a lot of work, brain power, knowledge, and integrity. Finding that combination isn't simple and there is a demand in many industries for it, so it's not surprising that people in banking make good money.

Armando 123

Re: Bankrupt - No wonder

Actually, as someone who has lived in DC and Chicago, I don't find that level of corruption mind-boggling at all. In fact, they sound like pikers.

Armando 123

Re: Oh, the irony

"The. Greeks are still complaining, even after their debts have been paid off by someone else?"

Well of course they are. Until they have to pay for it THEMSELVES, they won't understand what the real issue is.

I see the same thing in the US with California (which is approaching Greece's state thanks to similar governmental policies) and places like Detroit (ditto).

They'll expect all us (relatively) fiscally responsible places to bail them out, and I don't see why. You made your choices, live with them. Or is asking these cretins to behave like adults too much to ask?

Boffins debate killing leap seconds to help sysadmins

Armando 123

Re: What a truly advanced civilization would do

"Of course, the proper fix would be to adjust the rotation of the Earth to stay in sync with the atomic clocks!"

Mmmmyessssss .... Going to be a bit difficult getting the moon to agree to that, isn't it? That sort of energy would require burning everything from fossil fuels to orphans.

Microsoft mocks Apple and new iPhones in vids it quickly pulls

Armando 123

Don't mention the competition

If you can advertise without mentioning the competition by name, all the better. You'll notice that the ads for Chrome, iPhone, and many cars do not mention the competition. Apple did with their "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" ads because MS had over 90% of the personal computer market, and it was a market which had flattened; the only way to grow was to pull in frustrated MS users.

MS seems to keep sniping at Apple, which shows 1) they aren't dominant, 2) they aren't confident, 3) they don't get it, or 4) some combination thereof.

TWO can play this 64-bit mobile game, says Samsung, crossly

Armando 123

Re: Here we go again...

We'll see where this goes. There was a time when people didn't see the need for mobile phones outside of very specialized areas.

Armando 123

Anyone else remember ...

... and old story that Microsoft used to call Apple "R&D South"? Would Samsung be taking over Microsoft's roll in the mobile space?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YciM_54HzZk

Armando 123
Coat

Re: Why oh why

Because 32 bits of processing should be enough for anyone - Bill Gates

Corel re-animates zombie brand for patent case

Armando 123

Only one way to fix this

Allow people who pursue nuisance lawsuits to be countersued. In the US, you can sue without fear of reprisal, providing you don't falsify evidence, lie under oath, etc (ie, make the legal system seem like the ass it is). So one can sue the phone company just to piss off the phone company and get them bad press, then just withdraw the suit and go away, or settle out of court because it will be cheaper for them. Now, if the sue-er and the sue-er's lawyer have to face risk if the court deems the case ridiculous, you'd cut down on a lot of this. Likewise, if a group of non-lawyers were able to remove lawyers from practicing (the ABA is a joke), that would cut it down even further.

Apple’s iOS 64-bit iUpgrade: Don't expect a 2x performance leap

Armando 123

Re: iOS-based laptops?

Would the iPad count as an "iOS-based laptop"?

I know, not really, but a touch interface doesn't seem to really work for a laptop. (Now, having said that, I'm sure someone will prove me wrong.) Still, it is surprising what you can already do on an iPad.

The Solar System's second-largest volcano found hiding on Earth

Armando 123

"Since when has depth been measured in feet again?!"

Since Obama said so.

Confirmed by cockup: New iPhones will be named 5S and 5C

Armando 123

I hope so

I want an iPhone 5, and I can get it a lot cheaper when the 5S/5C/5Famous comes out.

Give us a break: Next Android version to be called 'KitKat'

Armando 123

I'm offended!

As someone with a useless liberal arts degree from a pompous college, I am naturally a complete wanker with a sad life who has nothing better to do than to poke my nose into other people's business and be offended for no good reason. Therefore, i will proceed to scream my offense at Google promoting obesity and I'm going to sue and the louder I scream, the more likely I am to get a show on ESPN.

Insincerely,

Myron Pantywayste

Furious Frenchies tell Apple to bubble off: Bling iPhone isn't 'champagne'

Armando 123

Perhaps

They can call it Vichy Gold. Or Rifle Dropper gold. Or Collaborate And Get Paid In Nazi Gold.

It would make the French so mad that they would stare angrily from behind the smoke of a Galoise and do NOTHING about it.

iPad classes for DOGS offered in New York

Armando 123

Re: America....

And why part of America really dislikes other parts of America. OTOH, many Americans may shake their head but think "Well, if you can seperate these idiots from their money, do it"

Armando 123

Hm

"who had recently left journalism to pursue dog training full-time"

From bullshit to dogshit, then.

Apple's Siri 'hurls insults' at Google Glass

Armando 123

"So much time on your hands that you sit there talking to Siri...."

Probably waiting on girlfriend to get dressed, or kids to get in the damn car, or boss to show up at meeting, or dog to finish "dropping a politician" before continuing the walk, ...

Botched court doc outs Google as respondent in national security flap

Armando 123

Dear Dr. Schmidt,

I'm glad you had nothing to hide.

Sincerely,

Your neighborhood cybervigillante

BILLION DOLLAR BALLMER: Microsoft chief makes $1bn simply by quitting

Armando 123

I still say ...

... getting rid of Ballmer and replacing him with someone more competent would be worth a billion dollars to the shareholders. I've been saying this for a decade, about the time Longhorn slouched into XP. MS' competitors might be having an "oh crap" reaction to this.

He always struck me as a phone company bellhead or a Xerox tonerhead. He couldn't think outside the box, partly because he wasn't really aware of the box in the first place.

Pulsars: the GPS beacons of the cosmos

Armando 123

Re: Known and used (differently) in Pioneering days

When the first pulsar was discovered, it was initially thought that it might be a signal beacon for space-traveling extraterrestrials.

Ballmer's emotional farewell to Redmond: I LOVE THIS COMPANY

Armando 123

Re: At least he Tried

Longhorn, Vista, Zune, PlaysforSure, Metro, ... trust me, it's bad news for their competitors that MS is getting a new CEO.

China's Baidu builds new type of App Store

Armando 123

Re: Is innovation going over to the East?

Possibly, but there are differences in marekts, economies, and "culture" (not the right word, maybe "weltanschauung" is better). China was technologically WAY ahead of the west a thousand years ago. But it was more sparks of light in the dark rather than a building of light, so that by 1500, European cannon could threaten the Chinese coast.

Innovation is important, but it's not everything you need for advancement.

NASA restarts WISE telescope to spot potential Earth-killers

Armando 123

Re: Budget cuts, huh?

Or we could get rid of a few layers of mismanagement in all the bureaucracies.

PEAK Apple: Cupertino's hopes died with Steve Jobs, says Larry Ellison

Armando 123

Re: Really

This from the people who gave us the Morris Marina. And other great British Leyland designs.

And reality tv.

I like Ive's designs, but don't extrapolate a national character from one ex-pat's success.

Nude swimmers warned of GONAD-GOBBLING FISH ON THE LOOSE

Armando 123

Re: I call dibs on the Swedish chainmail speedo concession!!

New from IKEA! Unfortunately, it takes 35 minutes to put it on and it never really fits right.

20 injured at LG phone giveaway as PR stunt turns into riot

Armando 123

Re: A Bit of a WKRP Moment, eh?

"One of the funniest episodes in TV sitcom history......"

Can't think of a funnier one, to be honest. Just wish the music copyrights didn't make rebroadcast cost-prohibitive.

Page: