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protothomas

914 karma · joined March 11, 2008

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protothomas··on Google Images: error when you search for anything that starts with a dash
More interestingly perhaps searching for “<term> -n to n” where n is an integer returns no results (e.g https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=google+-1+to+1
protothomas··on Dropping Acid
Posthuman - Mutant City Acid (https://bleep.com/release/111312-posthuman-mutant-city-acid), released a few days ago as it happens.
protothomas··on An Open Letter (The DAO Attacker)
But forking is a consensus decision of miners on the chain. Nothing to do with the DAO or its implicit or explicit terms. By that logic I can write a contract that dictates future behaviour of anyone choosing to mine this particular block chain.
protothomas··on Show HN: A JavaScript emulator of the Synthi A synthesizer
This [1] is a recent album produced entirely using a (physical) Synthi A - shows what can be done with one.

[1] http://www.fsoldigital.com/product/synthi-a-ignition-of-the-...

protothomas··on MentalHealthError: an exception occurred
A well written and brutally honest article - the author should be commended as this kind of honesty is what's needed in beginning to address mental health issues. I did feel the last throwaway point "don't date the crazy chick" let it down slightly - by his own hypothesis she too was suffering (bad) mental health issues and blithely shifting blame to her seems a little off.
protothomas··on Microsoft Edge records browsing history in InPrivate mode
It's worth pointing out that Chrome had a similar issue on iOS at one point [1] - not that it excuses them in any way.

[1] http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2298553/chrome-for-...

protothomas··on Reddit boss apologises after staff sacking causes 'revolt'
To be fair it's on the Newsbeat "magazine" section of the bbc which is intentionally more informal / gossipy and also aimed at a young demographic. Still a fairly shoddy article though I'd agree.
protothomas··on Dutch universities start their Elsevier boycott plan
For the purposes of European research funding it effectively is.
protothomas··on Where the population of Europe is growing – and where it’s declining
A lovely map, but the scale could be calibrated slightly better - 5% growth is coloured the same as 25% growth, it would have been interesting to see areas of extremely high growth highlighted as well.
protothomas··on Oliver Sacks on learning he has terminal cancer
What was your hypothesis out of interest?
protothomas··on How Whisper app tracks ‘anonymous’ users
Do you have any comment on the claims relating to the Department of Defence?
protothomas··on Hal Finney being cryopreserved now
On that note, this (http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Lazarus) is worth watching if you can get hold of it. It appears to be on 4od for uk viewers.
protothomas··on What was Alan Turing really like?
Why mention it at all, the possibility that one party is attracted to the other applies to all interactions.
protothomas··on What was Alan Turing really like?
Or it could have been that Turing was a friendly person. The fact he was gay doesn't mean that any interactions he had with men where on the basis of attraction.
protothomas··on 3D printer 'gun parts' found in Manchester raid
The raids were part of an operation cracking down on gangs - the parts were found during that raid. It was not that the police raided somewhere because they suspected there were printed gun parts there.
protothomas··on Founders' Accents
I think the reason people got slightly sniffy about it was the use of the word 'foreign' in a negative context, which, whether or not it is intended, will be interpreted by some as xenophobic. Had it been stated as '...having unintelligible accents...' it would probably have passed without note.
protothomas··on Dear Prime Minister Cameron
That's part of it but mainly this - http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/18/glenn-greenwald...
protothomas··on Don't Fly During Ramadan
To be honest the outcome is probably beyond their wildest dreams.
protothomas··on "Let's ban tiny phones" - UK Government
I suspect it would be to do with spotting visitors bringing in illicit mobile phones not prisoners.
protothomas··on Culturalism, Gladwell, and Airplane Crashes
I doubt there are 475000 take-off and landings per day from Heathrow despite how busy it is!
protothomas··on Hacker News Coverage of the NSA Stories (IMG)
And the death of Steve Jobs -> http://www.waybackletter.com/archive/20111005.html
protothomas··on So I hit "TAB" and Google mail sends the partially composed message?
Pressing tab will move the focus to the send button, hitting return will then send the message. Presumably this is what you did. Possibly not ideal, but I'd disagree it is an invisible, undiscoverable (tab to move focus is standard), and irrecoverable (you must also hit return).
protothomas··on Introducing Google+ Sign-In: simple and secure, minus the social spam
I honestly thought from the title that the post would be a mea culpa for just that.
protothomas··on Scans reveal intricate brain wiring
Look at what happened with DNA sequencing[1]. Linear extrapolation isn't always the best predictor of progress.

[1] http://www.dnasequencing.org/history-of-dna

protothomas··on Announcing Topaz: A New Ruby
The link goes to a project last committed to in 2000. You surely can't be objecting for that reason.
protothomas··on UK government declines to pardon Alan Turing
They have already issued a full apology (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/gordon-brown/617011...) which contains the following - "While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time, and we can't put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair, and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted, as he was convicted, under homophobic laws, were treated terribly."
protothomas··on UK government declines to pardon Alan Turing
I think the point that the government is making here is not "...but it was the law at that time!" but rather "we will let our mistakes of the past stand, and rather than hide from them we will learn from them". There is perhaps the danger that by 'fixing' the past you can then forget about it.
protothomas··on UK government declines to pardon Alan Turing
Whilst my gut reaction would be that this is the wrong decision, this - "However, the law at the time required a prosecution and, as such, long-standing policy has been to accept that such convictions took place and, rather than trying to alter the historical context and to put right what cannot be put right, ensure instead that we never again return to those times." - is actually a rational and convincing response.
protothomas··on A mirror flips left and right, but not up and down
I find a nice way of look at it is to think of it as looking at the back of a two-dimensional 'slice' of what is in front of the mirror.
protothomas··on Typical programming interview questions.
Even if the lightbulbs are breakable I think you would need a maximum of (2√n)-1 drops - i.e. go up in increments of √n then when it breaks work forward from the previous drop.
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