Re: What a waste of money
Problems? Oh, I don't know about that...
http://www.larryniven.net/stories/roentgen.shtml
Posts by YumDogfood
198 publicly visible posts • joined 21 Jan 2008
US reactor breaks fusion record – then runs out of cash and shuts down
Hey, you know what Samsung is also burning after the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco? $2.3bn
Adventures in (re) naming your business: Fire up the 4-syllable random name generator
Jupiter's throwing a firework party for Juno – and Hubble's peeking in
Friday 1st July 2016 06:19 GMT
Dive! Dive! Dive!
Picked up some Juno stickers n' other stuff from the JPL table at the last Yuri's Night @ California Science center. :-)
If you are a space geek, SoCal is one heck of a place to be. Historically (you won't believe how many ex-Apollo workers there are here. Their reminiscences are fascinating) as well as Space-X, Virgin, Orbital etc. etc.
Lightning strikes: Britain's first F-35B supersonic fighter lands
Amazon slashes mobe prices to get more eyes on lockscreen ads
Friday 1st July 2016 05:51 GMT
It is not the ads...
I live in Murica now and ads wash off me like a greased ducks back in a hypersonic wind tunnel. If I went back to Blighty and Tesco were handing out free gold bars, I'd be switched on cynical and wondering what angle they are playing.
It is the trickle of my limited Internets data allowance that irks. THAT. Bugger the tracking reasons because you ain't getting away from that anyhow.
Fear and Brexit in Tech City: Digital 'elite' are having a nervous breakdown
Friday 1st July 2016 05:40 GMT
May be a tad opinionated...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Convention_on_Human_Rights - "...the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953. All Council of Europe member states are party to the Convention..."
The EU was formed in ~1993. The Maastricht treaty, and all that subsequent jazz - If you remember the fuss over it at the time. So, only those treaties and such after 1993, or those superseded by EU rulings are potentially going to get a full kerb stomping and kicking if we go full article #50. This is only conjecture from a poor semi-edumacated lad (thank you Labour, Tories. A pox on _all_ your houses), but I suspect the shape of the future to be somewhat familiar and not utterly alien. Human nature and history being what they are (rare bright spots in a whole load of crap.)
I'm disappointed that we may be leaving the EU. Note: not sad, weepy nor panicky Kermit the frog arm wavy. The dissembling, rhetoric and overtly emotional appeals to illogic are prime fuel for the dysfunctional who just love having an enemy, any enemy to fill up on hate with. Politics and soap opera indivisible.
This needs to stop or we'll continue to tear ourselves apart. I loath the GWB with us or against us partisan mentality that seems to wash over politics today. We need to get real and work it out, think instead of blamestorming the other side. Calling brexiters names will only push them Trumpwards. What happens if you get called a bad name? You think better of the name caller? Love em' up more, right? Use your noodle and persuade. Be subtle instead of deionising[1] putdowns.
OK, time for my meds and a cold shower. Nurse!
[1] Demonising of course, but I let the spell checker have its way.
Bacon is not my vodka friend
Friday 1st July 2016 04:34 GMT
The best cocktail in the world...
Ordered by my missus in Oklahoma City (we were doing a cross Murica road trip from GA to CA.) It had some French liqueur in it, violets or something. Very well balanced, delicate, not too sweet or overpoweringly boozy. Perfection, IMHO.
The bar was banging out G n' R, which we danced to, and... and... my memory fails after that point.
As to the bemusement of Brits encountering the strips of lard called bacon here in the USA, I finally figured it out! You gently heat strips of the things until the lard melts off. Then turn the heat up a bit. Decamp the crispy jerky impersonators to a paper towel to soak off the excess. Crack in egg or two into the lake o' lard and fry as usual. Fried bread optional. The lard imparts flavo(u)r[1] and is good hearty morning scram, or a general purpose day after bear soaker. Note: Don't use the really cheap "bacon", go to Whole Wallet and splash out for something that is not 100% subcutaneous oinker fat.
[1] Transitioning between spellings I am.
Technology shares slide with Brexit vote, except ARM
Discworld fans stake claim to element 117
Tuesday 12th January 2016 18:31 GMT
Re: periodic table
http://griffithobservatory.org/exhibits/hallofthesky_elements.html
I noticed that some of the more "interesting" elements were absent, though the little containers existed to fill in the gaps. Its a fun day out, the views outside (Hollywierd sign, the city spread out below) are impressive, and... the parking is free (yes, wierd for Los Angeles.)
Tesla parades sleek model body and fab batt at Roadster fans
UK urged to stop bigging up startups, feed 'growing' firms
Tuesday 18th November 2014 22:25 GMT
Re: More to the point...
Rob m8, they have some seriously cracking brews going on here now. IPA seems to be goer with most Merkin's (+missus) around here (SoCal) but my fave is Lagunitas "lil somethin"[1] - guaranteed to get you wasted in a most delightful way.
There are some crazed, trying too hard, "craft" brews that are well weird to be sure, just avoid anything described on the menu or label that looks like it should be for a wine ("buttery", "caramel", "chocolate", "mature abandoned socks" etc.)
[1] Served @ Ink N' Iron fest while The Damned & Buzzcocks played on...
SKYPE has the HOTS for my NAKED WIFE
Saturday 25th October 2014 15:16 GMT
Yes, I went there and said "avatars."
I wonder if we could do lip syncing & voice changing avatars instead? A Muppet Show Webex would be a hoot. Might have bindun, but I'm too lazy and caffeine deficient this Saturday morning to look.
PS: Future Shock! The story of 2000AD - futureshock2000ad.com
Watch: Kids slam Apple as 'BORING, the whole thing is BORING'
Tuesday 27th May 2014 17:51 GMT 
"Computers? Beep beep beep. Does not compute! What use are they?"
Speaking as a kid (~13yo) who used to design processors (74LS181 FTW!), burn EPROMS with my home made device, and burn holes in the carpet while etching PCBs - Don't underestimate the kids. You show them the widest range of things in the hope of sparking an interest, and then let em' freely choose. Show them the wide open possibilities and not the soft bigotry of ignorance and presumption.
Title is what someone said to me as a kid. I've never forgotten it.
Don't go away, IBM and SAP – Larry's not finished with you yet
NASA's Opportunity rover celebrates 10 years on Mars with a FILTHY selfie
Friday 24th January 2014 21:27 GMT 
Shameless promotion: Want to meet the JPL geezer?
A free public lecture hosted by a space advocacy & STEM outreach (non-profit) org in the CA southland:
Saturday, Feb. 22, 3:30 pm
OASIS Lecture Series
10th Anniversary Landing of Mars Exploration Rovers
John Callas, Project Manager, JPL
Long Beach City College Planetarium
4901 East Carson Street
Long Beach CA 90808
http://www.oasis-nss.org/wordpress/?page_id=3
Disclaimer: I'm a member of OASIS.
Peeping Tom suspects cuffed after 'falling through women's toilet ceiling'
Guardian's Robin Hood plan: Steal from everyone to give to us
NZ bloke gets eel stuck up jacksie
NASA funds sexy, stealthy, sideways supersonic flying wing
NASA's $2.5bn Curiosity rover: An Apple PowerBook on wheels
Success! Curiosity Mars lander arrives precisely on schedule
Pasadena to party hardy as Martian landing looms
Sunday 5th August 2012 20:46 GMT
Culture shocked
As a Brit ex-pat and member of the LA OASIS society[1] I'm continuously in jaw dropped mode. I've been introduced to the Space-X CEO, know people who's lecturers worked with Wolfgang Pauli and other scientific luminaries. It goes on and on, including people I know who work for JPL. The UK efforts, sadly, make it look like WASA[2].
Its an utterly different world and those not familiar with it have no idea of the core of talent, commitment, money and opportunities. The UK is no slouch when it comes to talented scientists, but everything else seems so shoe-string in comparison.
[1] https://info.aiaa.org/Regions/Western/LA/Lists/Calendar/DispForm.aspx?ID=159
[2] http://www.welshspaceagency.org
PS: One space science meeting was at Northrop Grumman's cafeteria, the exterior of which is best known to Star Trek fans as the place where Spock was attacked by the fried egg monsters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation:_Annihilate!
Google and Facebook tool up for coupons fight
So, what's the best sci-fi film never made?
Israel mulls creation of elite counter-cyberterrorist unit
Friday 8th April 2011 08:38 GMT
Darwin's Fix++
...and the site hosting the source of the automatic updates
...and each package source code
...and the developer with either a gun to their heads, or an agenda
...and...
...and...
End to end security for everything. Who do you trust?
I'm off for my Friday pint, not sure whats in the pint, it might be mind control drugs or GM water, you never know! *wibble*
Small business denounces extra red tape
Tuesday 5th April 2011 09:42 GMT
The glass cellar
"women had no rights and were forced to stay at home with the children"
Yeah, it sure beats going down the mine and end up dying of pneumoconiosis while the coal board drags its feet on compensation that might have made my grandfather live longer, or in less pain. Or maybe it would have been more equal like my great-great grandmother and the kids down the mine along with the men? As to the company store - it was (economic) slavery. No wonder the miners had such a radical outlook after such exploitation (though it was transmuted into greed later by certain union leaders with political rather than humanitarian agendas).
Stop with the divide and conquer mentality promoting your own kind of sexism, we all live different lives, and the best thing we can do is to help others achieve, or at least try, whatever we want to do without getting caught in the traps of poverty and ignorance, or stomping on each other like rats in a trap.
Firefox 4 for Android shuns ARMv6 phones
Wednesday 30th March 2011 15:34 GMT
Casting (typedef) structs to char* WTF!?
Utterly evil, never mind that it could be structs compiled (#pragma) packed or unpacked, or both options in different libs and the calling code (the horror, the horror...)
Its a big sign that someone is not paying attention to architecture and portability issues.
HP's 'vision' should embrace Apple, not copy it
Friday 18th March 2011 11:50 GMT
When dinosaurs roamed the earth
It is the age of shambling zombie corporations. Once lively and fleet of foot, they now roam the world to feast on those still living and productive. Brains and talent ripped out and devoured in greed, with nothing at the end of the day to show for it except more corpses and undigested great ideas, products and talent slowly decomposing within the putrid frame of the mega-corp as it shambles it way to a fresh victim.
Hadron Collider 'could act as telephone for talking to the past'
Sexy eco-bulb wins Design of the Year
London's Olympic clock claps out
App Store not invited to web's date with destiny
Monday 14th March 2011 09:48 GMT
LOL!
When I pointed a while back that this was the score, I got shot down here. LOL! That that server to app link - all it needs is a basic UDP/TCP over IP and whatever protocol some demented megalomaniac developer can think up over lunch.
The only reason HTML is still here for apps is developer laziness - its a done deal so we only plug in the component and point it at the same port 80 address.
Dim Brits think TARDIS IS REAL
Connecticut suspect's 'half-ro' haircut wows web
Microsoft 'paid Nokia $1bn' for WinPho 7 deal
The Node Ahead: JavaScript leaps from browser into future
Friday 4th March 2011 16:03 GMT
Premature optimization is the root of all evil
All this newbie code monkey jabbering, click-jerk down-voting and inter-generational cluebat swinging. I really, really, really, could do with a few pints about now to deaden the pain of it all.
Oh yes, I was going to say something about measuring bottlenecks, profiling and such. Too late, I've already got my coat on. Have a good weekend all.
Julian Assange™ applies to trademark himself
Antennagate Redux: Consumer Reports condemns Verizon iPhone 4
Mobile spyware tool helps paranoid spouses prove themselves right
Monday 28th February 2011 12:56 GMT
Marrying the wrong person?
Working at your marriage is a lot art when the current environment encourages a lazy, entitled attitude with the ease of bailing out if it. Eat-prey-cheat and the rest of the divorce glamor industry don't help either, bashing from Kay Hymowitz telling us to "Man up" because we're not good enough (LOL!) The list is endless; various cultural bits of shiny-shiny worthless tinsel pulling couples apart or preventing them from trusting one another. I'm glad I'm not a young bloke in this horrid era. One major cluebat for y'all is: Men don't (often) commit because women are (often) bad at *keeping* commitments (look at the gender ratio for *who* files for divorce.)
Dear US gov: Stay the hell out of Silicon Valley
Customs officers get X-ray machines for down under searches
Friday 25th February 2011 15:01 GMT
Path of least resistance
1. Fill false preggers bump with Kg of the good stuff and walk on through (sans THz scanners).
2. Find an under 18 year old stupid enough to be a mule (not exactly hard, that one)
3. Either rohypnol & make a deposit in an unsuspecting lightweight thinker or a fake ID and take acting lessons in not firing on all thrusters.
Ways and means people, ways and means.
Turn your mobile phones in to a live gig speaker
Man found guilty of battery after ejaculating in co-worker's drink
Apple brings multi-touch, full-disk crypto to latest OS X
'Most stupid criminal ever' blew cover on Facebook
Three-day gaming session kills Chinese man
Five Reasons to be cheerful about Nokia-Microsoft
Monday 21st February 2011 15:49 GMT
Microsoft and the version #3 rule.
Punting a WP7 on Nokia hardware should be simple - munge the existing drivers for the WP7 API and you could 'knock one out' (yes, I know) in a hurry. Its an engineering problem, one Nokia are good at (sans all the engineering teams walking out, err...)
I expect WP7 to advance quite a bit and catch up, as long as the consumer unit and BU don't go to war over features. The only thing that would work against that is lack of communication between, and commitment from, MS and Nokia engineering teams. The only thing that could _really_ bollox it all up are their respective bureaucracies, but we have already tread on that ground, around and around, like Marvin the paranoid android stuck in a hole.
There is enough cash floating around for them, I think, to do it the X-Box way and chuck it around until something sticks, all gooey and cheaply, to whatever demographic is unfortunate enough to be in the way. As with any MS product, I would wait for version #3 though (I'm joking, really!) before it hits its stride and the money sucking starts in earnest.
PS: Nokia, please get an industrial designer that did not work on chunky Casio watches for orienteering bods. Thanks, much appreciated.
Who needs 600 friends when you're a bride of Christ?
Monday 21st February 2011 14:31 GMT
Time heals
Give it up on the ancient feuding people, I'm all for multiculturalism! For instance I'm *just* starting to get uses to all those Roman/Frenchy/Viking sorts hanging around these Isles. It does add a bit of colour to the place you know.
Y Cymro.
PS: I really don't mind them but hey do often reek of garlic and drink that awful alcoholic red stuff made from some some bizarre small squishy fruit clumps. As for not believing in lots of gods that you can actually see (sun,rock,plant,animal,sky) and only in one invisible one, Well, It might impact the hut prices around here (its already at two goats and a hen!) Thats all I'm saying, you know.
/ tongue, cheek, coat.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
