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User: Chrisq

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Comments · 6,729

  1. Re:I put it down to this on UK Government Tax Disc Renewal Website Buckles Under Pressure · · Score: 1

    In general, Britain has an anti-sneak culture, so I doubt many people would literally report their neighbour. It's more likely to be general nosiness.

    Plus the urge to check your cars to make sure that they have "got it right".

  2. Do you mean on Will Windows 10 Finally Address OS Decay? · · Score: 1

    Do you mean that there are people who don't completely reinstall their computer with a different OS every few months, struggle to get all the devices working, then when its finally stable see some other distribution that looks worth a try?

  3. I put it down to this on UK Government Tax Disc Renewal Website Buckles Under Pressure · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is the dumbest thing. You've been able to renew your tax disc online for years now and the site's always been fine. You don't have to replace you're existing paper disc until it expires so I don't understand how they've taken a functional site, added barely any additional load and made it fall over.

    I put it down to many sites saying that anyone can check any cars status on the government's vehicle inquiry service (currently down). Loads of people want to check whether their friends and neighbours cars are legal.

  4. Re:Simple answer on David Cameron Says Brits Should Be Taught Imperial Measures · · Score: 1

    If you tell them 100 is the hottest summer day and 0 is the coldest winter one, they'll have a pretty good idea that halfway between, 50, is roughly the average temperature during spring and fall.

    I think you would find that given this description most people in the UK would have a totally wrong impression of the scale.

  5. Its bound to be on Tetris To Be Made Into a Live Action Film · · Score: 1, Funny

    Its bound to be . . . a Blockbuster

    (apologies - I couldn't resist)

  6. Re:Simple answer on David Cameron Says Brits Should Be Taught Imperial Measures · · Score: 1

    They both share the 4 pints to the gallon, but there's no weight equivalent.

    Am I missing something or are there 8 pints to a gallon?

    You are right, he must have been thinking of quarts.

  7. Re:Simple answer on David Cameron Says Brits Should Be Taught Imperial Measures · · Score: 1

    If that system had been kept, what would have happened to the introduction of VAT?

    It would have been a boon time for accountants!

  8. Re:taught not use on David Cameron Says Brits Should Be Taught Imperial Measures · · Score: 2

    He said taught, not use. There is a massive difference. Personally don't see the harm in that at all.

    He was responding to the point that "Schools should teach pupils mainly in imperial and not metric measurements". I have nothing against teaching arcane units, in fact I find it interesting - but to stop teaching metric is just plain stupid

  9. What will parents and grandparents do on David Cameron Says Brits Should Be Taught Imperial Measures · · Score: 1

    What will parents and grandparents do when they have only learned metric and the kids bring home work involving how many gills there are in a peck?

  10. Re:Simple answer on David Cameron Says Brits Should Be Taught Imperial Measures · · Score: 2

    Well . . . the UK did manage to switch to the "New Pence", and get away from shillings, farthings and half-crowns. If anyone even knew what they were worth.

    A shilling was 1/20th of a pound or 5p in decimal
    A farthing was a quarter of an old penny. There were 240 old pennies in a pound so a farthing was 1/960 of a pound or just over a tenth of a new penny
    A half-crown was two shillings and six pence, or an 8th of a pound, so 12.5p

  11. Science curriculum on David Cameron Says Brits Should Be Taught Imperial Measures · · Score: 1

    will the Science curriculum go back to the foot pound second system or will they have to learn metric there?

  12. Re:Idiot on David Cameron Says Brits Should Be Taught Imperial Measures · · Score: 2

    while "1 cup" and "1/2 cup" do. So when a recipe calls for 1 cup of anything, you can measure that quickly.

    You rarely see this in UK measurements, for one thing in the UK cup sizes are not standard. My wife (from the USA) found it confusing at first that things were either given in capacity or weight (fluid ounces and pints/pounds and ounces in traditional UK books) and not various cups or spoon sizes.

  13. Simple answer on David Cameron Says Brits Should Be Taught Imperial Measures · · Score: 5, Informative

    Is this because he hasn't a clue about science or because he is catering to a particular political base?

    Both.

    Mostly though because so many conservatives have a "we have always done it that way" attitude. Many of them don't have a clue that imperial measures are very different from US customary ones (we have 20 fluid ounces to a pint, and the US has 16). Many also don't know their pecks from their bushels, or their furlongs from their rod, poll, or perch, but think the system must be good "because its traditional".

  14. From what I've heard... on Apple Faces Large Penalties In EU Tax Probe · · Score: 1, Funny

    From what I've heard Apple will enjoy being "probed".

  15. Re:How about giving Tibet back to the Tibetans? on China Eager To Send Its Own Mission To Mars In the Wake of Mangalyaan · · Score: 1

    How about the sapiens sapiens giving Europe back to the neanderthalensis?

    Or is it too late for that too.

    I think its in the works

  16. Re:Man oh man on Physicists Find Clue as To Why the DNA Double Helix Twists To the Right · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nowadays it seems like almost everything is twisting to the right...

    Including the iPhone 6....

  17. Re:Cake and eat it too on Microsoft On US Immigration: It's Our Way Or the Canadian Highway · · Score: 1

    If you incorrectly believe that _everyone_ pays the US 35% corporate tax sure, the US has the highest corporate tax rate. You would have to be extremely ignorant or gullible to believe that anyone pays the base rate.

    A lot of people do. They are the hard working local stores, builders, mom & pop hotels, and so on. Its only the big guys get exemptions.

  18. Re:Fine! on Microsoft On US Immigration: It's Our Way Or the Canadian Highway · · Score: 2

    its a problem with ANY group or individual that want to decide what's "best for you."

    what's best for you never seems to be very good for them.

    Shh .. your mum could be listening!

  19. Re:They didn't factor in the cost of R&D on Why India's Mars Probe Was So Cheap · · Score: 1

    It was so cheap because India relied on the R&D done by developed nations

    Partly, but the key technologies were not shared as the USA blocked this, so India developed a lot itself.

  20. Re:OK on IBM Solar Concentrator Can Produce12kW/day, Clean Water, and AC · · Score: 1

    There you go again. You really need some help. You do realise that it's not normal behaviour to group ~1.6bn people together, and even less normal to think it's a good idea to shoot them simply because they're near you, right?

    You sound dangerously close to a small-minded xenophobe. So close the difference is, at best, imperceptible.

    I wasn't seriously sugesting shooting them at random - it was a joke. You don't deal with them by becoming like them, or else they have won.

  21. Re:OK on IBM Solar Concentrator Can Produce12kW/day, Clean Water, and AC · · Score: 0

    Yeah, I want these fucking things all over my neighborhood. I swear to god if these start sprouting up like toadstools I'm going to start using them for sighting in the .22. I can't understand what the heck people are thinking sometimes.

    Quite agree, but that's enough about Muslims.

  22. Re:Not just iPhone on Users Report Warping of Apple's iPhone 6 Plus · · Score: 4, Informative

    The official chemical name IS Aluminium with Aluminum being an alternate spelling

    Except it's not. You are right about "alumium", however.

    It is the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) standard international name, though they recognise Aluminum as an alternative.

  23. Re:Read Slashdot on Ask Slashdot: Finding a Job After Completing Computer Science Ph.D? · · Score: 1

    Can I come work for you, sabri?

    I don't know

  24. Isn't that on CIA Tested Primitive Chatbots For Interrogation In the 1980s · · Score: 1

    a tautology

  25. Re:Terrorism never sleeps on Researchers Propose a Revocable Identity-Based Encryption Scheme · · Score: 2

    And neither does the American Secret Service.

    Are you sure about that?