Posts by Catkin

Vulcan Centaur avoids FAA scrutiny after losing solid rocket booster nozzle

Vulcan, as stated in the article, is a ULA (not SpaceX) rocket.

Uncle Sam lends $1.5B to reignite Michigan nuclear plant in 2025

Re: Clean energy?

Sorry for being unclear, that's what I meant when I mentioned cold, rocky reservoirs. It's why Norway can get away with hydroelectric that's relatively low carbon, while other projects emit huge amounts of methane.

Re: Clean energy?

I think that limits you to hydroelectric built with 19th Century techniques. Wind turbines produce huge amounts of composite waste (unless you want to run a literal wind mill) and solar creates heavy metal wastes. Both of these are harmful to humans and, unlike radioactive isotopes, heavy metals will never decay into something less harmful.

End-to-end, modern nuclear has a lower carbon footprint than anything but hydroelectric built under very specific conditions; namely, reservoirs built on rocky terrain in cold climates. That doesn't mean we should abandon these technologies but we should be realistic about their impact rather than going 'oooh radiation scary'.

Samsung fined just $8K for exposing chip fab workers to X-ray radiation

Re: 94 Sv ??

The translation could be making it a little murky but it could be entrance skin dose, which is basically all the radiation the individual was exposed to, rather than the radiation that was absorbed. This is handy to know because the absorbed dose calculations might not take back scatter into account when calculating the absorbed dose. However, it's still a surprisingly large difference.

Messaging app makers' dilemma: Keeping comms private and funding open source

Paradox of security

-criminals use E2EE to facilitate crimes

-E2EE cannot be completely banned without seriously limiting the Internet

-not having E2EE puts me at greater risk from criminals

-politicians admit they cannot entirely combat crime if criminals use E2EE

Therefore, banning E2EE will not make me safer. If it is possible to backdoor encrypted communications but keep it safe from criminals, the politicians proposing such measures can demonstrate it for a few years by using it themselves for their most sensitive communications. In fact, go one better: they can put cameras around their homes (even in the bedroom and bathroom) with the stream entirely accessible to anyone but secured with a key held under the same conditions they propose for our escrowed keys.

With Granite Rapids, Intel is back to trading blows with AMD

Hopefully, with the subtitle Dark Moon Ryzen.

Elon's latest X-periment: Blocked users can still stalk your public tweets

Re: Not that I like Twitter

Plus, if an individual wishes to spread abusive lies, they could block the target to slow down them finding out.

Re: The story goes..

This scenario wouldn't be affected by the change. Perhaps if Musk wants to view tweets from people blocking him, though I doubt he'd personally have had an issue before.

Lebanon now hit with deadly walkie-talkie blasts as Israel declares ‘new phase’ of war

Re: If an Icom IC-V82

I made no comment on their overall right or wrongness, just that they don't meet specific legal definitions.

Re: If an Icom IC-V82

These are neither mines nor booby traps because they are remotely triggered, rather than responding to the presence of a nearby indivual/vehicle or handling.

Lenovo turns to India as source of AI servers

Is the Indian facility manufacturing the actual semiconductors? I can't find any references to it.

Feds pull plug on domains linked to import of Chinese gun conversion devices

Re: Repeal the de minimis provision

Thank you for the detailed explanation. I probably wasn't clear and didn't mean that it's a ploy to make more money for big business, I meant that it's not wholly against their interests to repeal it.

For the sake of transparency, I should say that I'm a hobbyist tinkerer and getting things like machine parts from aliexpress and similar lets me affordably pursue my hobbies. I remember the dark days before these sites got the ability to pay their customs, you could often end up paying Royal Mail more for the privilege than the value of the customs or, sometimes, more than the base value of the item if they were feeling particularly loopy (for mistakes, you had a choice of paying or returning, which works for big businesses leaving RM holding the can for the customs payment but is greatly imbalanced against the individual). The alternative was a UK importer/stockist, who would often charge an outrageous markup (because the item was too niche even for Maplin/RS) or lumping it because your requirement was beyond the point of commercial viability for a business to import and stock.

I personally equate buying silver earrings off those sites to buying them off a guy at the pub or out the back of a white van: if they're selling 'silver' jewellery below the market rate of base silver, it feels like it's on the buyer. I suppose there is self-interest there but it does feel a bit like hobbyists being told that their hobbies are less important than someone who can't think critically before paying for tat.

Re: Repeal the de minimis provision

Just because a provision is beneficial to one corporation that does not mean repealing it will necessarily be beneficial to the individual. The jobs created by repealing de minimis will not be manufacturing but rather a handful of warehouse workers at corporations that are large enough to maintain an inventory stateside, taking advantage of the economies of scale on import processing fees.

While Amazon likely profits more from de minimis, they are still well placed to be a major player in profiting off a repeal, as they currently are in Europe, because their warehouses and ability to harvest purchase data for predictive inventory management gives them an edge over smaller businesses. For very specialist items which are too niche for large corporations to care about, the consumer ends up paying more in processing fees than actual duties.

US govt halts medical study into Havana Syndrome, cites 'coercion' of participants

Re: I Thought I Had a Solution to My Woes for a split-second

I think the reason Eddie the Eagle enjoyed more praise is because there were no other British ski jumping Olympic applicants. In this case, there were plenty of other Australian applicants and, whether there was foul play in the selection process (unlikely) or not, there is a feeling that she potentially 'stood in the way' of someone who might have done better.

Re: I Thought I Had a Solution to My Woes for a split-second

My sincere apologies for not considering the diverse needs of all comment readers and failing to include an appropriately clarifying icon.

Re: I Thought I Had a Solution to My Woes for a split-second

She had a doctorate in the subject. Specifically, the title of her thesis was "Deterritorializing gender in Sydney's breakdancing scene: a B-girl's experience of B-boying". Sadly, for Australia's Olympic dreams, no one thought to look into whether 'deterritorializing' required one to be proficient at breakdancing.

Re: Rationality

While it's possible, it's a bit like on a medical drama when they check the patient "for all known poisons and toxins" except any potential interference might not be continuous.

WHO-backed meta-study finds no evidence that cellphone radiation causes brain cancer

Re: 5G sucks here

Damn, I guess Gates got to them

Re: 5G sucks here

Just in case you're still looking, for Android, it's under the connections->mobile networks option. For iOS, it's under mobile & data.

EV sales hit speed bump as drivers unplug from the electric dream

Re: the average journey

Yes, the overall impact was a rise of 0.1l/100km for petrol non-hybrid LDVs in France. The figure after that rise was the one I quoted.

I'm unclear on the significance, could you please clarify?

Re: the average journey

Those figures are from the IEA. The average age of a car on the road in France in 2021 was 10.5 years so, while you might see older cars, they're not representative. The age figure is from an automotive lobby group but please feel free to provide competing figures if you feel those figures are more accurate:

https://www.acea.auto/figure/average-age-of-eu-vehicle-fleet-by-country/

Please also provide hard data that you feel is more accurate to support your guesstimate if you doubt the accuracy of the previous post.

Re: the average journey

36mpg seems incredibly low. The average fuel economy for purely petrol driven (not including hybrids) LDVs in France in 2019 was 5.8l/100km or 17km/l or 48Impg

https://www.iea.org/articles/fuel-economy-in-france

I'd also point out that diesel achieves, on average, better fuel economy and, thanks to strike-inclined truckers, is cheaper per litre in France.

Woman uses AirTags to nab alleged parcel-pinching scum

Thank you for the thoughtful answers.

The issue with anti-tracking notifications is that they inform the thief as much as the stalked. I would definitely err on the side of caution (giving priority to stalking victims over catching thieves) but it would be nice if a person with a big brain could come up with a way to ensure thieves don't get notified that the item they've lifted is being tracked while preserving the safety feature.

Intel enlists Morgan Stanley to defend against activist investors

Re: Intel shares have lost nearly 60 percent of their value since the beginning of 2024. ....

As the article said, Intel's shares

Developer tried to dress for success, but ended up attired for an expensive outage

The rate of injury is lower than, for instance, walking

Per-distance travelled but that is for fatalities, not serious injuries. You're also not taking into account the average speed of the transport mode. The same argument would suggest that airbags and a seat belt are essential items for walking but not driving. To offer a little hand holding: the reduction in injury severity offered by a protective measure is as important as the rate of underlying risk.

Regurgitating the myth about helmets being harmful demonstrates an inability to distinguish between correlation and causation. It may, perhaps, assist in guiding policy but it's essentially misinformation when applied to an individual decision.

And if you really think a cycle helmet offers any meaningful protection I've got a bridge to sell you.

It seems entirely possible from your prowess on assessing bicycle helmet safety that you actually do have a bridge to sell and don't realise it.

Re: static sensitivity

How does one wear a product engineer?

I think it's easier for cyclists planning to ride on leafy lanes to take note and buy appropriately coloured clothing. The motorist might have to do some rather invasive research to ascertain if a given cyclist is likely to be sharing the road with them on said country lane, to say nothing of the difficulty with appropriately sizing the garment.

I find it challenging enough to wrestle them off their bicycles to fit them with a helmet if I notice one without adequate protection.

Virginia's datacenters guzzle water like there's no tomorrow, says FOI-based report

Re: What are they doing with it?

Algal bloom deoxygenation is actually rather interesting and complex. It's less to do with them not being a net contributor of dissolved oxygen and more to do with their subsequent decomposition, as well as them depriving more efficient oxygenators of sunlight.

Under-fire Elon Musk urged to get a grip on X and reality – or resign

Re: I’m just glad I’m getting old

"no blacks, no Irish, no dogs,"

A terribly minor point and I'm not denying that racism existed in Britain prior to (and, indeed, after) but the earliest reference to this that I've ever been able to find is in Plays and Players, volume 25, page 44 from 1977. Those words, as far as I can determine, never appear together before then in Internet searchable literature. I believe it is something of a myth that's been Mandela effected into our collective memory.

Re: followed by counter-protests, some peaceful and some not.

I presume they're referring to what happened in the Bordesley Green area of Birmingham, including the attack on reporter Becky Johnson. The far right lot were sadly quite cunning in spreading rumours of a protest and leaving a lot of angry counter protesters with nowhere to direct their anger.

I don't think anyone is suggesting equal proportions of violence and non-violence.

Would you rather buy space broadband from a billionaire, or Communist China?

Re: Will they allow VPNs?

Does starlink ban VPNs?

UK Royal Mint mining PCBs for precious metals in e-waste recovery effort

Re: news?

Could I ask what process you refer to? I don't believe aqua regia is used for general gold recovery unless exceptional purity (beyond that required for electronics) is required as the process (Wohlwill) requires a 'pool' of gold that cannot be fully extracted easily.

Five months after takedown, LockBit is a shadow of its former self

designing cluster bomblets to look like toys

[citation needed]

NASA pops repair kit in the mail so astronauts can fix leaky ISS telescope

Re: "keep doing groundbreaking science"

Base profit-making doesn't strike me as any worse than the saber rattling of the Space Race. Don't forget that especially the early years of it were basic public exhibitions of how the respective side could kill an entire city without warning or defence at the push of a button. Even space telescopes are basically spy satellites pointing in the other direction.

If a consequence of a rich and unpleasant person getting richer is more affordable access to space, that doesn't seem like the worst thing in the world.

US border cops really must get a warrant in NY before searching your phones, devices

Re: Unfortunately

I think that, while that correctly identifies the intricacies of jurisdiction, it downplays the significance of the opinions offered in Riley. Specifically, why there isn't a need to examine digital data that is acute enough to justify dispensing with a warrant.

Re: Unfortunately

Do you expect they'll overrule their prior decision? The only current Justice who wavers on Fourth Ammendment rights, as far as I'm aware, is Kavanaugh.

Logitech Zone 305 is light on the ears and wallet, maybe a bit too light on quality?

Although I can't abide it for its intended purpose (listening to music while running), the bone conduction headset I bought a while back is the best way I've tried for holding any given remote conversation.

No, really, please ban Chinese DJI drones from America's skies, senators are urged

Re: Drone enthusiasts...

I disagree with your assessment on the basis that a bump stock is not needed to perform a similar operation and that your definition would mean all semi automatic firearms would be defined as machine guns. In the case of the law examined by SCOTUS, it came down to the fact that said law describes 'multiple shots with one single function of the trigger' (not a direct quote) as a key feature of a 'machine gun'. This doesn't apply to a bump stock because its entire function is to use the recoil to actuate the trigger against the finger.

Similarly, it's quite legal to add a (silly looking) crank trigger but as soon as that crank is turned by a source of power other than the user, it becomes illegal.

I'd also add that one of the Justices who voted in favour of the decision voiced support for a ban but correctly pointed out that it was the job of Congress to legislate appropriately.

Re: Drone enthusiasts...

As I said, please read the judgment. The part of the law that was used to justify the ban was directed against machine guns, which a bump stock clearly is not, nor does it turn a semi automatic firearm into a machine gun. If this is confusing, I recommend looking up how firearms work.

I have no interest in nor intention to argue the rights and wrongs of bump stock ownership. I am only discussing the way Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances work in the United States. A law need not be excessively complex, one could simply define 'devices which increase the firing rate beyond that obtainable through conventional trigger operation' as prohibited items and thwart future ingenuity. Lawmakers had years to make these changes and, instead, they sat on their arses with fingers crossed that SCOTUS wouldn't do their jobs.

Justifying transgressions as responses to emergencies invites tyranny and if lawmakers cannot pass effective, well written laws then perhaps they aren't the best people for those jobs. Emergency powers acts are written for this precise purpose and having what politicians and agencies can and cannot do in response to emergencies allows for consent of the citizenship to be obtained prior to emergencies through acceptance or objections to these powers.

Re: Drone enthusiasts...

I would suggest reading the specific judgement. SCOTUS didn't rule that it was cool for Americans to own bump stocks, they ruled that the currently enacted laws don't prohibit them.

Broadening the scope of existing laws through loose application of the wording bypasses Checks and Balances and the onus is upon the legislative branch to rewrite and pass an updated law that is either constitutional or is passed after an appropriate amendment.

Microsoft 365 remains 'degraded' as Azure outage resolved

Re: So, Office 345 is down again

Depends how you define 'customers', I'm thinking the return is early pub'o'clock.

Police allege 'evil twin' of in-flight Wi-Fi used to steal passenger's credentials

Re: Eh?

I think this is one of those cases where a good VPN actually lives up to the benefits touted by VPN providers. The annoying bit is that free WiFi often blocks VPNs, especially if they're trying to upsell you access to certain parts of the Internet.

MIT's bionic leg upgrade leaves amputees walking like the wind

Re: Seems a lot more practical and vastly less invasive than Musk's Neuralink offering

I would say so. Neuralink does not, as far as I'm aware, feed information back in in its current iteration and this system, while providing proprioception (great for more natural walking) would not be applicable to a paraplegic individual.

Both offer the potential of massive quality of life improvements without detracting from the other.

'Skeleton Key' attack unlocks the worst of AI, says Microsoft

Re: Fundamental flaw

At the same time, with coaxing, a child that had previously learned to swear is likely to swear again.

Elon Musk to destroy the International Space Station – with NASA's approval, for a fee

Re: "n deemed unfit to fly"

Would you want to fly in a Boeing craft without a way to deal with a terror-induced bowel movement?

As expected, Apple set to vanish Batterygate, dodgy audio lawsuits with money

It's a bit weird that you're so eager to comment if you're unaware of the timelines but you can brush up here:

https://www.ifixit.com/News/11208/batterygate-timeline

I would say that saying it only affects a 'very small number', then releasing a software patch with no mention of the performance hit before finally admitting to having degraded performance almost a year later, when test results become undeniable, is a lie of omission.

The only way thermal throttling would be an apt comparison is if something happened along the lines of a manufacturer discovering a bad batch of thermal paste was used on a GPU, then issuing a hotfix that throttles the power further rather than admitting to the fault and offering replacements before their arm is twisted. Perhaps the underlying mechanism is similar but that's like saying the VW emissions scandal is okay because all modern IC cars manage their emissions through the ECU; it obfuscates the cause for criticism.

Yes, I'm well aware. The difference is that this was rolled out well after the device launch and installed without disclosure, likely because Apple didn't do effective validation of their device's operation after battery degradation (easily simulated). Worse, when caught, they basically lied.

The thermal throttling comparison makes no sense because that performs the same as at launch and is a demonstration of good manufacture diligence. Perhaps a better equivalent would be Spectre. In that instance, it was made clear that the fix would slow the affected processors, like all good manufacturers should do with updates.