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User: Shimbo

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  1. Re:4.3 U on HP Claims Their Moonshot System is a 'New Style of IT' (Video) · · Score: 1

    Exactly, in a cold / hot isle rack you are left with a gap which would need plugging with something.

    A 42U rack would have 7U wasted space that is almost another 2 servers...

    They will sell you a .66U spacer, or a 13U box that fits three of them. It may be a dumb idea but not that dumb.

  2. Re:This just illustrates on Germany's Glut of Electricity Causing Prices To Plummet · · Score: 2

    If it doesn't it's time to switch supplier. If they all hold their prices, then they risk being investigated as an illegal cartel. So, maybe not immediately but it creates a downward pressure.

  3. Re: The real question in my mind on Test: Quantum Or Not, Controversial Computer No Faster Than Normal · · Score: 2

    If he had 10 million dollars, he wouldn't need to.

  4. Re:Competition Sucks on Uber Demonstrations Snarl Traffic In London, Madrid, Berlin · · Score: 1

    As far as London taxis go there are two sorts of taxis: the familiar black cabs, and minicabs. Black cabs have the privilege of being able to be hailed by a passing passenger, whereas mini cabs need to be booked through their firm.

    The main public interest in this distinction is that booking minicabs means that a third party will have a record of the passenger and driver, if the police need to come looking to see what has happened to the passenger. It takes years of training to know London well enough to get a taxi licence, so it's something of a barrier to someone with criminal intent.

    The thing about Uber, is that it provides a very efficient way of linking up minicabs with passengers, whilst maintaining the record that the law requires. However, the taxi drivers have got used to the inconvenience of having to book the competition as their competitive advantage.

  5. Re:Real Reasons Thorium is Being Held Up on Thorium: The Wonder Fuel That Wasn't · · Score: 1

    Thank you for posting this. I'm rather tired by the constant stream of posts here that claim if we just switched to Thorium/Helium-3/Unobtainium, we would have all our energy problems solved by the end of next week. It's good to see an intelligent discussion of the real engineering problems involved for a change.

  6. Re:Who would have guessed? on Harvard Study Links Neonicotinoid Pesticide To Colony Collapse Disorder · · Score: 1

    And they are completely harmless to humans.

    Sorry, but that's grade A nonsense. There isn't any chemical that is completely harmless to humans.

  7. Re:You can't copyright facts on Court: Oracle Entitled To Copyright Protection Over Some Parts of Java · · Score: 0

    I think the appeal court got it largely right: API design is a creative process. Anyone with any experience in programming knows that some APIs are well designed, others are bad ones. I think it's a nonsense to claim the API is a fact.

    I don't like Oracle, and I don't really like the consequences of this ruling. However, Google really pushed the boundaries of copyright law to the limit here. And if people choose languages that are explicitly free to reimplement in future, that's a good thing.

  8. Re:Missing a rather large point on Plant Breeders Release 'Open Source Seeds' · · Score: 1

    What if you all agreed that nobody could restrict the future use of these seeds.

    Then the seed companies would lobby for laws to make sharing seeds illegal. If you think that is being paranoid: it's already happened. http://permaculturenews.org/20... (it didn't pass - that time).

  9. Re:But it is! on Scientists/Actress Say They Were 'Tricked' Into Geocentric Universe Movie · · Score: 2

    Except, I don't think that is what the general theory of relativity says. Maybe you're thinking of the special theory of relativity, which says that in inertial systems one frame of reference is just as valid as another. However, I don't think the sun and the earth represent an inertial system, so I'm not sure why that would apply.

    Er, no. The special theory deals with inertial frames, you need the general theory for non-inertial frames. According to the general theory, you can't tell the difference between gravity and acceleration. So, you can claim that you were stationary on a roundabout and the rest of the universe swirling about you caused space to warp in such a way as to cause you to fall off. That's a perfectly valid interpretation according to general relativity, if a somewhat egocentric one.

  10. Re:Ooh look! on EU Should Switch To ODF Standard, Says MEP · · Score: 1

    What's with all the Euro-hate, anyway?

    I don't think a random MP or MEP saying something particularly intelligent or unintelligent counts as news. MPs or MEPs will be found talking to almost every lobby group you can imagine at some point. And, because they are elected by proportional representation across a variety of languages and cultures, MEPs in particular will have a very diverse range of views.

    To be honest, I would be happier if /. didn't run any such stories, because on average politicians say a lot more stupid things than sensible ones. Actual policies would be different.

  11. Re:UK Taxpayers on UK Government Pays Microsoft £5.5M For Extended Support of Windows XP · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What I would like to know is how much would it have cost to upgrade to Linux? As a UK Taxpayer, I would prefer my money to be invested in Linux systems instead of Microsoft.

    Much more than that, obviously. You don't replace the operating system, reinstall and develop specialist applications for £5 a PC. Of course, paying for extended support doesn't move you forward, so you have to some sort of migration next year.

    And really, as a taxpayer (IMHO), you (and I) should be wondering how the NHS managed to piss £10 billion away on a failed IT project, and how we can avoid them doing it again. £5 million across the whole of government is fairly small beer to keep existing systems going, compared to the amount you could blow on a load of migration projects.

      It sucks that some departments are going to miss the deadline but the questions I'd like to know the answer to are 'what are their migration projects for next year?' and 'are they on track to be completed before the extended support runs out?'. Have they got a credible plan, and it's just slipped a little, or is it a total fuck up? That, to me, is the big money question.

  12. Re:Translation on London Council Dumping Windows For Chromebooks To Save £400,000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It doesn't sound like they're using web apps, at least not yet

    No, but they were (apparently) using mostly Citrix apart from the power users. A Chromebook seems a good fit as a remote desktop client; you don't have any more issues with requiring an always on network than you started with. For once, a fairly sensible strategy it seems.

  13. Re:Is XWayland... on XWayland Aiming For Glamor Support, Merge Next X.Org Release · · Score: 4, Informative

    XWayland is the X server for Wayland, so that you can run traditional X applications on Wayland (as opposed to Qt etc. applications, which will talk directly to Wayland). http://wayland.freedesktop.org...

  14. Re:If BITC are property.. on IRS: Bitcoin Is Property, Not Currency · · Score: 1

    The government can't force me to use currency if I don't want to.

    How many chickens would you like to bet on that?

  15. Re:Rewards the hacker on BPAS Appeals £200,000 Fine Over Hacked Website · · Score: 2

    What I find incredibly offensive is that the charity's CEO didn't even apologise to the 10,000 innocent victims whose data was lost as a result of his organisation's failings. Instead he is trying to shift the attention onto the ICO and try to portray themselves as victims.

    In all probablility burning tens of thousands pounds more of the charity's money in the process. If they do actually go to appeal, rather than just saying it in the heat of the moment. It's a she, by the way.

    To be fair, they are victims in the sense that if they didn't get hacked, they might have got away with their negligence but that is often true. It's rather like blaming the guy that pulled out in front of you when you were drunk driving.

  16. Re:hmmm on BPAS Appeals £200,000 Fine Over Hacked Website · · Score: 1

    Doing things right" is an incredibly nebulous statement that nearly no judge should be in a position to determine.

    The principles are in Schedule 1 of the DPA

  17. Re:so they got an anti-abortion judge on BPAS Appeals £200,000 Fine Over Hacked Website · · Score: 1

    Why is it a "heavy-handed" fine? It seems to me that when an organization endangers members of the public via negligence, they should receive a penalty that is sufficient to motivate them to change their practices.
    >

    It's less that 1% of their annual turnover, and could easily come out of their senior management's pay. Think that will happen? Me neither.

  18. Re:Cold Fusion and Polywell Fusion are on New Review Slams Fusion Project's Management · · Score: 1

    We've been building tunnel diodes since the late 1950s. That's for electrons though... I don't see how tunneling can help protons.

    Some enzymes use it; bioscience is frighteningly subtle at times. Not for fusion though.

  19. Re:Of course it's "lawful" on High Court Rules Detention of David Miranda Was Lawful · · Score: 1

    What do you mean it didn't happen?

    He was arrested and held for 6 months then allowed to go free by the UK government.

    GP argued that the courts always sided with the elite. However, Pinochet lost the case, although some of the charges were dismissed. The government later decided to let him go on medical grounds.

  20. Re:Of course it's "lawful" on High Court Rules Detention of David Miranda Was Lawful · · Score: 1

    Surprise? UK courts follow elite interests and have always done so. Take their refusal to extradite Augusto Pinochet to Spain a decade ago

    I'm very surprised at that, since it didn't happen.

  21. Re:Of course it's "lawful" on High Court Rules Detention of David Miranda Was Lawful · · Score: 2

    To paraphrase, when the government does it, it's not illegal. It would be absurd to expect any other outcome.

    Not at all, the executive frequently acts unreasonably and gets slapped down by the courts. However, when parliament grants very broad powers (as in the case of a lot of anti-terrorism legislation) they are more likely to get away with it.

    A fairly standard (but nonetheless shameful) case this morning: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-...

  22. Re:"Lord Justice Laws" on High Court Rules Detention of David Miranda Was Lawful · · Score: 5, Informative

    No, all senior judges have the title "Lord Justice" and it just so happens this one used to be called Mr Laws.

    However, Lord Chief Justice Judge has retired.

  23. Re:Not plastic, titanium on 3-D Printed Pelvis Holding Up After 3 Years · · Score: 2

    Whilst I wouldn't be 100% sure based on a press report, it does appear to be laser fused:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/hea...

  24. Re:Should be a dual purpose particle accelerator on CERN Wants a New Particle Collider Three Times Larger Than the LHC · · Score: 1

    Everything you can accelerate to the speed of light has no mass so that doesn't help. The momentum of a massless particle traveling the speed of light is zero.

    p = E/c

  25. Re:Standard practice... on Peanut Allergy Treatment Trial In UK "A Success" · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's not a particularly surprising result but it's one thing saying that after the fact, and another to do a good quality trial. 90-99% of science (well, to be honest, pretty much of everything worth doing) takes skill and patience rather than a moment of brilliance.