Posts made by PeterCharles

There will be a deal. Unfortunately it'll mean special chips in all computers that automatically beam back to Brussels every web site you visit and every e-mail you send.

Then come the knock on the door in the middle of the night .....

You really don't understand the British.
Too much bling is a bit chav, and not what proper rich people do.
So it's rubbish with thin gold plating, real stuff but nicked or real stuff paid for from drug dealing!

@gaieus said:

I may emigrate to some Middle-East country. No pigs; no flu.

Egypt, that's Middle East! They've killed all their pigs.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8024946.stm

Wait, aren't they a Muslim country?? What are they doing with pigs anyway???
Ah, there are a few Christians.

@unknownuser said:

Don't make any mention of Camilla, Diana or Koo Stark.

Big Stickin' Faux Pas.

I thought she got on quite well with Koo Stark
At least she's kept her mouth shut which is more than some of the others have.

@unknownuser said:

Eugenie

Really "grand" from the bikini photos in my newspaper.
(Egg cups, tea cups, no, challenge cups!)

OK, I'm not a gadget freak and for me a mobile phone is just a phone I take out and about so why would I want an iPhone!

Well, a guy at work has one and has loaded a free spirit level application. Oh yes, that'll be a bit of gimmicky rubbish. NOT SO! 0.1 degree display AND it gave a slightly different angle just with a post-it note added under one corner. That I could use on site.

Now if there was an application that set a base point at one position and gave the horizontal and vertical coordinates of a second position to a reasonable accuracy it would be bought tomorrow!

@alan fraser said:

He should have given her a Royal Wii.

The last kick by Wales could have changed everything....
but it didn't, so Ireland get a well deserved Grand Slam!

It's a pity this Irishman isn't able to see it --
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7940985.stm

A nice variation on an old gag.....

@tim said:

Not quite; they would be prevented from making them for profit without permission of the patent holder.

My understanding from the UK is that profit does not come into it

@unknownuser said:

Patents do not stop anyone making something patented. They require the maker to have permission from the owner, usually of course granted in exchange for money.

True

@unknownuser said:

Nothing stops someone from getting a patent and allowing cost-free licenses.

True, but then why spend all that money on a patent! Just publish it in the public domain
@unknownuser said:

Or even - so far as I know at the moment - refusing all licenses and thus preventing the thing being made by anyone.

Except by the patentee himself

@unknownuser said:

Now, if only I could have had a patent on the core of Word, so I could stop it from driving a billion people insane...

Of course you can only enforce a patent if you've got deep pockets. Be prepared for others to, claim prior art, launch an application for revocation, produce it in countries you couldn't afford to patent in, just ignore you and let you sue if they've got money and you haven't, etc, etc

@unknownuser said:

@mike lucey said:

Time will tell. Just a thought! In order to protect these inventions, patents will have to be granted. This means that FULL data will be available to the public. At this stage the facts will come the light ... excuse the pun.

One has to remember that patents applications are usually written in the way to protect the idea of the design and to disclose important details to make it really work.
Tomasz

The patent must describe the invention in such details as can be understood by a man "skilled in the art". This will mean anyone can make it from the patent, except that they will be prevented from doing so in the countries that have granted the patent.

@mike lucey said:

patents will have to be granted. This means that FULL data will be available to the public.

Excuse me if I don't hold my breath waiting.

Some of this sounds a bit like the old Cold Fusion of the late '80's, or even ZETA from the '50's which I remember was going to give power so cheap it wouldn't be worth charging for it!
( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7190813.stm )

Ho, ho, ho

@remus said:

matter is energy, an important point to note.

Some old bloke called Einstein wasn't it, and demonstrated by the Manhattan Project

@remus said:

so until someone conclusively shows that energy can be created i find it hard to believe.

I thought it had been shown that energy can be created from matter??

It probably just shows the politicians ignorance of the subject they are legislating about.

@tobobo said:

PS Chocolate is too easy.

No, chocolate is too hard !

My views are probably due to my age, being closer to the aftermath of the events, seeing city centres being rebuilt, rationing in the austerity of the post war period, knowing those who fought and lived, knowing relatives of those who fought and died. Had there not been so much misplaced pacifism in the '20's and '30's many countries who should have stood up to Germany earlier didn't because they couldn't. If they had, there would have been no '39-'45 war.

At school the question posed was "why do we study history" and answered with "to learn and not make the same mistakes again". The meek DO NOT inherit the earth, they are enslaved or die under the jackboot of the oppressor be that a German Nazi or a Russian Communist. Pacifism did not bring down the Berlin wall, only strong commitment NOT to be out gunned by Communist aggressors.

@gaieus said:

@petercharles said:

If the Germans didn't want their cities bombed they shouldn't have waged war in Europe, end of story.

Yeah, I was actually afraid of such responses.

Stop hiding from the truth.
Too many people are trying to re-write history, overstating the deaths in Dresden, denying gas chambers in the death camps, etc, etc.