The totally off-topic thread

[anat0l]

It's all about learning the secret to controlling time.

Where the hell are we? Dune?

 

[Flashback]

Thanks Buzzard. Coupon Alerts is not in the list of programs to uninstall. I have been trying everything I can think of but no luck. All options on Google so far mention Add/Remove programs or a paid version of Anti spyware etc.

I do not want to pay someone to remove the garbage they install on innocent people's PCs.

A few good free tools:
http://general-changelog-team.fr/en/downloads/finish/20-outils-de-xplode/2-adwcleaner
Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.75.0.1300 Final
Mirror selection Spybot 2 | Spybot © - be sure to download all the definition files before doing a scan on this one

Finally managed to watch a few of this year's Oscar winners on the way to LHR. Good selection on QF this month. 12 Years A Slave, Dallas Buyers Club were both good, fell asleep during Gravity and American Hustle. The latter being a particularly awful movie IMO, not a single character I cared about and I cannot for the life of me understand why it would win a single award :shock:

Agree on American Hustle, utter rubbish. Gravity was OK but would be lost if not seen in 3D at a cinema IMHO. Agree on Dallas Buyers Club, good movie.

I'm glad I saw it on the big screen.

Plot was meh, but the special effects in 3d are what made the movie. Those only watching it on a plane or on a small home setup can't appreciate it the same.

Yup..!

 

[drron]

I second malwarebytes.Simple even for a dinosaur and you get a free trial version.

 

[JohnK]

Where the hell are we? Dune?

No. We are here.

 

[medhead]

Great news! Andrew Bolt has finally spit the dummy. He's had enough and he has threatened to walk. Please, please, please, please go away Bolt. Have the courage of your convictions.

 

[Pukka]

Great news! Andrew Bolt has finally spit the dummy. He's had enough and he has threatened to walk. Please, please, please, please go away Bolt. Have the courage of your convictions.

Yaaaaaaawn tune in to Q & A it's full of lefties you'll love it

 

[Pukka]

None of them were as good as The Wolf of Wall Street. I doubt there will be an IFE cleaned up version of that as it would be about 5 mins long

Wolf of wall st is the best film ever, it was never going to win anything though because it's the least politically correct film I have ever seen

 

[drron]

Great news! Andrew Bolt has finally spit the dummy. He's had enough and he has threatened to walk. Please, please, please, please go away Bolt. Have the courage of your convictions.

I think you will have to contain your joy.

 

[medhead]

I think you will have to contain your joy.

Oh my joy will be greater when Bolt doesn't stick to his guns and shows us exactly what he is, a conviction free zone. A man devoid of any principle. A lying hypocrite.

Yaaaaaaawn tune in to Q & A it's full of lefties you'll love it

I assume this isn't your attempt to troll. Clearly you don't get the point. Bolt is a hypocrite if he doesn't stick to his convictions. No wonder you support him.

 

[JohnK]

I second malwarebytes.Simple even for a dinosaur and you get a free trial version.

A free trial version suggests payment required at some stage unless the free trial lasts a lifetime?

 

[Pukka]

Oh my joy will be greater when Bolt doesn't stick to his guns and shows us exactly what he is, a conviction free zone. A man devoid of any principle. A lying hypocrite.



I assume this isn't your attempt to troll. Clearly you don't get the point. Bolt is a hypocrite if he doesn't stick to his convictions. No wonder you support him.

You should have watched it there was a big apology to Mr Bolt at the end
lol there are obviously lawyers involved. Sometimes people need to engage their brain before they speak

 

[anat0l]

A free trial version suggests payment required at some stage unless the free trial lasts a lifetime?

There is a free version of Malwarebytes Antimalware and a paid version. Both versions can perform scans and remove threats. The free version should not nag you to upgrade to the paid version, it shouldn't break down in any way due to not being the paid version and - if I recall correctly - there shouldn't be a co-install when you install it, otherwise it is not adware itself and in any case can be unselected.

I've been using the free version of Malwarebytes for a few years now and quite content with it.

 

[drron]

You should have watched it there was a big apology to Mr Bolt at the end
lol there are obviously lawyers involved. Sometimes people need to engage their brain before they speak

Methinks he read Mr Bolt wrongly.

 

[TheEmu]

None of them were as good as The Wolf of Wall Street. I doubt there will be an IFE cleaned up version of that as it would be about 5 mins long

Wolf of wall st is the best film ever, it was never going to win anything though because it's the least politically correct film I have ever seen

Now this I have heard of, because I've read the books: The Wolf...& Catching The Wolf... E-books, not one of them new-fangled things with paper n' ink 'n stuff like that fancy penegal fella was talking about!
Did not know there was a movie though!

 

[straitman]

GPS is fraught with inaccuracy over short distances, but if you check it over a moderate distance of steady driving on flat road with no buildings or hills it should give a decent reading.

Just a minor factual correction.

GPS is so accurate that a timing error of one second gives you a position error of 186,000 miles. (i.e. 186,000 miles/second which is a number many are familiar with)

GPS as fitted to cars and in the context that we are talking here is effectively dumbed down to take out all the rapid changes caused by road surfaces, hills, drivers etc. Without this the displays would be constantly changing to the point of being unusable.

Just as a fighter aircraft is very unstable and therefore very agile or responsive versus a passenger aircraft that is very stable and therefore gentle, smooth and relatively slow to respond.

 

[Flashback]

A free trial version suggests payment required at some stage unless the free trial lasts a lifetime?

There is a free version of Malwarebytes Antimalware and a paid version. Both versions can perform scans and remove threats. The free version should not nag you to upgrade to the paid version, it shouldn't break down in any way due to not being the paid version and - if I recall correctly - there shouldn't be a co-install when you install it, otherwise it is not adware itself and in any case can be unselected.

I've been using the free version of Malwarebytes for a few years now and quite content with it.

The Pro version (which if you install and select the trial you get this) gives real-time monitoring. I always install and select No for the trial and thus it's never an issue. Once the 30 day trial ends, it reverts back to the free version in any case.

 

[Robbi]

Just a minor factual correction.

GPS is so accurate that a timing error of one second gives you a position error of 186,000 miles. (i.e. 186,000 miles/second which is a number many are familiar with)

GPS as fitted to cars and in the context that we are talking here is effectively dumbed down to take out all the rapid changes caused by road surfaces, hills, drivers etc. Without this the displays would be constantly changing to the point of being unusable.

Just as a fighter aircraft is very unstable and therefore very agile or responsive versus a passenger aircraft that is very stable and therefore gentle, smooth and relatively slow to respond.

So in other words a GPS unit gives inaccurate data when moving with rapid 3-D direction changes over short distances, such as in a car.

GPS is based on using very accurate timing signals to calculate your position relative to the constellation of satellites.
So, if there are buildings, hills and valleys that obscure the faint GPS signals and/or add reflected signals with slightly different timings you get randomly inaccurate readings, especially when the GPS unit is moving rapidly, such as in a car.

Add in 3-D movement and the errors increase again as the vertical GPS dimension is mathematically more sensitive to timing variations. So measuring speed on an undulating road through a town in a valley surrounded by a forest will have a high likelihood of random inaccuracy.

To overcome these sensitivities GPS units use time averaging and reduced sampling rates so as to not give ridiculously rapid changes in speed and position, dumbed down as straitman put it. However this only makes the unit usable, it does not make it more accurate whilst moving.

If you want the best GPS speed reading you want to maintain a constant speed on a flat, level, straight road not in a valley and with no horizon obscuring trees or buildings running alongside.

Caveat: I did the maths and wrote software for a Masters Degree, that became a PhD, that exploited the extreme accuracy of the GPS signal timing to remotely 3-D model the ionosphere in real time as it fluctuated during the day. This ionospheric information is essential for over the horizon HF direction finding and radar applications as well as for localised GPS correction tables.

 

[markis10]

GPS is based on using very accurate timing signals to calculate your position relative to the constellation of satellites.
So, if there are buildings, hills and valleys that obscure the faint GPS signals and/or add reflected signals with slightly different timings you get randomly inaccurate readings, especially when the GPS unit is moving rapidly, such as in a car.

Add in 3-D movement and the errors increase again as the vertical GPS dimension is mathematically more sensitive to timing variations. So measuring speed on an undulating road through a town in a valley surrounded by a forest will have a high likelihood of random inaccuracy.

That would depend on how many satellites are in view by the receiver, which can be up to 12 for many consumer chips. I would have thought the reflected signals (aka Multipath) would be ignored as they are out of phase?

Garmin quote 0.1m/s or 0.36 km/h, that's without augmentation, if you have a GPS with augmentation (like a Apple iPhone) it's much better as it takes out reliance on the sat signal for the fine detail. We are about to see trials of ground based augmentation for aircraft landing systems at Sydney take place, which should eventually see the ILS removed and the possibility of full auto land being allowed.

 

[JohnK]

I've been using the free version of Malwarebytes for a few years now and quite content with it.

I installed this last night and it asked for a reboot. Since the reboot I cannot connect to internet with Internet Explorer or Firefox. The Optus mobile connection appears to be OK.

Now what?

 

[OATEK]

I installed this last night and it asked for a reboot. Since the reboot I cannot connect to internet with Internet Explorer or Firefox. The Optus mobile connection appears to be OK.

Now what?

Sounds like you might have one of those DNS changers (have a look at DCWG | DNS Changer Working Group on your mobile). These redirect you to rogue DNS servers and can prevent you from going to sites where you can get help. There are tests you can perform to see if that is the case - have a look at DCWG | Detect on the mobile.

It happened to me once, and you can get it sorted, but it will take more time if you have this malware.