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User: hawkinspeter

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Comments · 1,930

  1. Re:Well I for one on Hackers Steal Data Of 4.5 Million US Hospital Patients · · Score: 1

    How dare you say that! We've been more inept for much longer than the USians. We'd make sure that a random doctor loses his unencrypted laptop with all the data on it.

  2. Re:Good for music, movies and ebooks on Delaware Enacts Law Allowing Heirs To Access Digital Assets of Deceased · · Score: 4, Informative

    Unfortunately, that's not the case. Bruce Willis raised a fuss a while ago about not being able to leave his iTunes music collection to his children. The Ts and Cs state that the license to listen to the music is strictly non-transferrable. (He should have just "pirated" it instead).

  3. Re:For some it was just a plain black screen on Windows 8.1 Update Crippling PCs With BSOD, Microsoft Suggests You Roll Back · · Score: 1

    He's referring to Australian Woolworths which is a big supermarket chain. Over here in the UK, Woolworths as a general/department store has been out of business for a few years. I believe the companies are unrelated, but I haven't looked into it.

  4. Re:Will not matter. on Selectable Ethics For Robotic Cars and the Possibility of a Robot Car Bomb · · Score: 1

    I just can't see that autonomous/AI cars will be any worse than human drivers and I think they'll be at least an order of magnitude safer.

    With unusual situations, the AI car should be programmed to find a safe (don't hit anything) route and if that's not possible, it should reduce speed/stop in a straight line as that will allow the speed to be reduced quicker and safer than by swerving. I can't see how stopping in a straight line would lead to increased liability for the manufacturer unless the vehicle was really badly made.

    It's possible to think of situations where stopping in a straight line isn't necessarily the best course of action, but then human drivers make really bad choices all the time and they don't generally have trouble getting insured.

  5. Re:Offtopic: Messages and Karma Lost on Feds: Red Light Camera Firm Paid For Chicago Official's Car, Condo · · Score: 1

    Well, we really missed all your insightful, on-topic posts in the months you were gone. Thank the lord that you're back here with some more of your erudite posts.

  6. Re:Apologies from Australia on Feds: Red Light Camera Firm Paid For Chicago Official's Car, Condo · · Score: 1

    Don't forget about Rolf Harris and his wandering hands.

  7. Re:It's absolutely NOT worth it on Android Motorcycle Helmet/HUD Gains Funding · · Score: 1

    I never used to wear a helmet on my bike either, but have taken to wearing one as I started doing longer distances. In truth, the safety aspects of cycle helmets are over-stated as they don't really provide that much protection against typical bike accidents. I always think that gloves are far more important on a bike than a helmet as pretty much any time you come off a bike, you'll use your hands.

    Anyhow, as I wear clear protective glasses when cycling, I wouldn't have any problem with a similar design for a HUD. I imagine that the higher speeds of a motorbike might make a difference, but I've seen bike riders wear prescription glasses under their helmets, so I don't think it's an insurmountable problem.

  8. Re:It's absolutely NOT worth it on Android Motorcycle Helmet/HUD Gains Funding · · Score: 1

    I'm not a motorbike rider (although I have ridden one as a teen and did spend several years working in a big motorbike shop/warehouse), but I do a lot of cycling and would really love to get some kind of separate HUD. I'm thinking of something like Google Glass, but with swappable lenses (e.g. clear, high contrast yellow, shaded) that could link up with other instrumentation via bluetooth.

    It'd be great to have a HUD displaying a rear view camera, GPS info and other cycling specific info like cadence, heart rate and speed. If the front and rear cameras also stored video onto micro-sd cards, there'd be great evidence for use in any traffic incidents.

    If it's in a separate form factor, then you could wear them under a motorbike helmet as well as wear them on a cycle which makes more sense if you do want to replace your helmet. I'm sure there's a lot of similar functionality that you'd want for both modes of transport.

  9. Re:I love competition. on Xbox One Will Play Media from USB Devices, DLNA Servers · · Score: 1

    I usually just try to find a version without Cinavia (smaller DVD rips) myself.

  10. Re:I love competition. on Xbox One Will Play Media from USB Devices, DLNA Servers · · Score: 2

    You may well be right. I know with cinavia infected films, you can't just go to the 20 minute position to check to see if it works or not - you actually have to play the film for 20 minutes for the error message to appear.

  11. Re:I love competition. on Xbox One Will Play Media from USB Devices, DLNA Servers · · Score: 1

    Apparently, if you hit that problem, you can work around it by putting the system date/time forwards a day (and then get another 20 minutes with sound). Alternatively, the DVD rips don't usually hace Cinavia, just the Blu-Ray rips.

  12. Re:Microsoft cannot fool all the people all the ti on Microsoft Surface Drowning? · · Score: 1

    The one constant in the computing industry is "change". 1998 was a heady time in computers as they were completely changing entire businesses - how could anyone think that there would never be any more change even after Windows was overtaking the unixes that had previously prevaled (despite their incredible cost)?

    It amazes me just how short-sighted so many people are. If you use something that didn't exist 10 years ago, then it's likely that something better/different will be around in the next 10 years.

  13. Re:Wyvern = Wyrm on New NSA-Funded Code Rolls All Programming Languages Into One · · Score: 1

    Also, you can use a metal detector. Or some kind of x-ray machine.

  14. Re:Wyvern = Wyrm on New NSA-Funded Code Rolls All Programming Languages Into One · · Score: 1

    Set the haystack on fire - the needle won't burn and will be left in the ashes.

    Put the haystack into a body of water and the hay will mostly float whereas the needle will sink.

  15. Re:Love my Pro on Microsoft Surface Drowning? · · Score: 1

    Probably due to you complaining about mobile apps and android rather than actually reviewing your Surface Pro. (I'm not saying the mods are right, but your post did sound a bit trollish)

  16. Re:Microsoft cannot fool all the people all the ti on Microsoft Surface Drowning? · · Score: 1

    It always surprises me that estimated costs for producing software never seem to take into account future migrations to other versions of the OS. I understand that a lot of executives don't stay around in the same business long enough to worry about that, but you'd think the accountants would want some kind of future planning contingency?

  17. Re: The problem of Microsoft on Microsoft Surface Drowning? · · Score: 1

    Yes, provided you don't care about being able to still read those formats in X years time or have to work with one of the governments that are now mandating open formats.

  18. Re:Put in a separate table on Oracle Database Redaction Trivial To Bypass, Says David Litchfield · · Score: 1

    You'd need the credit card number if you need to process a credit for a customer.

  19. Re:Evolve to cope with environment on Ancient Worms May Have Saved Life On Earth · · Score: 1

    Increased oxygen levels can cause big problems in part because it's generally toxic, but mainly due to it's combustion enhancing properties. The more oxygen there is in the air, the more severe any forest fires become until you get to the situation where a lightning strike can ignite the whole atmosphere. I'd imagine that the increase in fires would probably limit just how much oxygen the atmosphere could contain (i.e. a stabilising feedback loop).

  20. Re: Crazy Parakeet Man on The Man Who Invented the 26th Dimension · · Score: 1

    I agree that what matters is if the maths works out to match reality, but there can also be a deeper connection. If the maths produces some "curious" results that later turn out to also match reality, then it's a good clue that the maths provides a good insight as to what is actually happening. e.g. The equations of General Relativity predicting black holes or Dirac's equations predicting antimatter.

    Conversely, you can also have the case where the maths doesn't actually correctly model the real world, but is studied to gain insights into the more complex situation of reality.

  21. Re:Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend on Microsoft Tip Leads To Child Porn Arrest In Pennsylvania · · Score: 1

    If it wasn't your mum taking the photo, then how would she be able to claim copyright and invoke the DMCA?

  22. Re:Sigh on Gmail Recognizes Addresses Containing Non-Latin Characters · · Score: 3, Funny

    Nope, there's four options:

    Accept it.
    Reject it.
    Temporary failure, try again later.
    User not local, will forward to <somewhere>.
    Syntax error, command unrecognised.

    Wait, I'll come in again...

  23. Re:tongue on EFF: US Gov't Bid To Alter Court Record in Jewel v. NSA · · Score: 1

    Tastes like "chicken" McNuggets?

  24. Re:Small-scale, real-time. on Why Morgan Stanley Is Betting That Tesla Will Kill Your Power Company · · Score: 1

    Sounds like you're doing wind power wrong over there in america. Here in the UK, wind power is still expensive (although comparable to other power technologies) but we're improving the tech and getting much better at it. I'm not saying it's the only answer, but it's worth doing in the right locations.

    It's also worth doing because wind power really annoys some people (especially Daily Mail readers): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2713830/Lunacy-sea-As-Ministers-agree-world-s-biggest-wind-farm-Brighton-Britain-succumbed-catastrophic-folly.html/

  25. Re: Good, I say on Why Morgan Stanley Is Betting That Tesla Will Kill Your Power Company · · Score: 1

    No they aren't, unless the eggs are wrapped up in some meat-like substance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_egg/