* Posts by ravenviz

1838 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Nov 2009

Nostalgic for VB? BASIC is anything but dead

ravenviz Silver badge
Go

Re: I think I can safely say ...

Various dialects of BASIC (Sinclair, Commodore, BBC) in my teenage years enabled me to take on Visual BASIC in the 90’s to take care of mundane housekeeping tasks in the workplace I eventually entered, so much so that the whole work group used the tools I wrote (I was a geologist). Then later on I was able to ease into shell scripting and Excel macros quite seamlessly, further enhancing productivity without the need for actually needing a developer. These things were more or less throwaway and certainly not part of the company toolkit portfolio, but very useful at the work group level for just knocking something up quickly.

Journalist hurt by exploding USB bomb drive

ravenviz Silver badge
Angel

Re: Yet another reason

We had a Cliff Richard greetings card that sang Congratulations when you opened it. Except if you closed it and opened it repeatedly and quickly it just said, “Cun’, Cun’, Cun’, Cun’, Cun’” for as long as you still found it to be funny. Which was quite a long time!

Anyone want an International Space Station? Slightly used

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: I've got a better idea...

For a 400 tonne object in LEO you would need to increase it’s velocity 3.5 times which is about 5,000 times the kinetic energy it currently has! The S-IVB (third stage of Saturn V booster) needed over 100 tons of fuel to get the 28 ton CSM to the Moon, so for ISS you need to get half a Saturn V into orbit, which might need two Saturn V’s to get it there! That is a big and expensive firework!

Microsoft and GM deal means your next car might talk, lie, gaslight and manipulate you

ravenviz Silver badge

I had an airbag light come on for a) the rake of the passenger seat severing the cable to the front passenger occupancy sensor, and b) (separately), due to a coil in the drivers seat belt clasp becoming corroded!

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: Re - speedometer accuracy

My old VW T4 van speedo was connected to the gearbox with a (what I thought was bizarre) rotating cable. You may be thinking of the mileometer.

The Moon or bust, says NASA, after successful SLS/Orion test flight

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: Breaking things

…and the wine cellar!

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: That is how it is done

Yes they did the crew/landing module separation and docking tests in Earth orbit, except if it went wrong the crew in the lander module had no way of returning to Earth safely if docking with the service module failed! Brave indeed!

ravenviz Silver badge

The "Vomit Comet"?!

Once AI can create endless viral videos, good luck switching off social media

ravenviz Silver badge
Facepalm

Milk? Sadist!

Pushers of insecure software in Biden's crosshairs

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: These are the same idiots ...

I trolled one enough for them to tell me to 'f*ck off' Victory!

Why our solar-storm sats corrode – and probably not what you expected

ravenviz Silver badge

H2O continues to surprise!

To explore caves on Mars and the Moon, take a hint from Hansel & Gretel, say boffins

ravenviz Silver badge

Can't we just have that thing in Alien that flies around and makes a 3D model in front of your face like in the films?

Hubble images photobombed by space hardware on the up

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: Doubling of sat streaks

I thought the light from looking down would damage it. [thoughtful emoji]

Ford seeks patent for cars that ditch you if payments missed

ravenviz Silver badge
Trollface

Re: F.O.R.D

And from the 80’s, Crapi, Mundano etc. (Actually that’s it!)

Four top euro carriers will use phone numbers to target ads and annoy Google & Facebook

ravenviz Silver badge
Headmaster

So not anonymous then.

ANTONYMS FOR anonymous

known

named

identified

ravenviz Silver badge
Big Brother

Re: "no thanks"

I now control all my cookies and turn everything off.

Including the “legitimate interest” ones.

Legitimate interest?

Do they mean legitimate interest in making my money theirs?

Ring system discovered around dwarf planet Quaoar leaves astronomers puzzled

ravenviz Silver badge

Agree, the explanation may indeed be dynamic.

Generative AI is out of control: Nothing, Forever is a Seinfeld spoof about nothing... forever

ravenviz Silver badge

Early days, this is an excellent demonstrator. After all, how do we define entertainment? Maybe after 100 years of the moving image we have enough data for any story we may ever be likely to tell. It of course does not preclude human storytelling, but think of being able to ask for “a funny road trip movie set in Peru starring Harpo Marx and Jenny Agutter”.

ravenviz Silver badge

Or at least we think we haven’t!

Boeing bids the 747 a final, ultimate, conclusive farewell

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: The end of an era

Joe Sutter, the 'father of the 747', said that it would make sense to use the broad design cues of the CX-HLS project Thunderbird 2 “ . There, FTFY.

McDonald's pulls plug on Wi-Fi, starts playing classical music to soothe yobs

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: print car number plates on takeaway bags to discourage customers from littering

We used to scour the local building sites for Corona bottles for the 10p return, you know, when kids were allowed to play on scaffolding!

ravenviz Silver badge

That would have made me go in!

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: Classical music calms?

I seem to recall the music of Cliff Richard was proposed for use in town centres…

New Zealand Herald

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: print car number plates on takeaway bags to discourage customers from littering

Re: pulling bags out of bins

So people can take them home and put them in the recycling.

Even AI could scan the recycling as it’s being processed, and if it spots your bag then you get points at McD to get money off your next cholesterol binge.

Beijing grants permit to 'flying car' that can handle 'roads and low altitude'

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: Thanks, but I'll pass on this one

Those and a ground anchor!

Scientists conclude cats only have three personalities after YouTube clip binge

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: Scientific method...

I suspect you’re thinking of the feline AI rival CatGPT!

Stranded ISS astronauts are getting a new Soyuz to ride home

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: Will Soyuz MS-23 be crewed by women?

That would be “non-manned”!

Bootnote: The Register does not have any obviously female comment icons…

It's been 230 years since British pirates robbed the US of the metric system

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: No to cups or spoons

I think you mean “cluttery”!

ravenviz Silver badge
Trollface

I heard the plan was for a phased switchover so lorries and buses would switch to driving on the right for six months, after which cars and motorcycles would then follow suit.

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: That explains...

So, naturally, your answer was, “A proper pint”!

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: Learn both?

That’s why I like driving in Europe because on a journey the distance numbers go down quicker than in the UK for travelling at the same speed!

ravenviz Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: Don't forget

12:00 AM and 12:00 PM categorically cannot exist

They can and do exist, by definition.

Space startup ABL emulates Virgin Orbit failure by crashing

ravenviz Silver badge

This is just so devastating for those who have put their satellites on these vehicles and then they crash! All insured but puts their projects back, and might even put some out of business!

Cleaner ignored 'do not use tap' sign, destroyed phone systems ... and the entire building

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: what it is about concrete dust?

Concrete can include aggregates such as sand, itself which can be composed of silica based components such as quartz, which registers at 7 (1 = softest to 10 = hardest) on the Mohs hardness scale.

Apple jacks up Mac, iPhone, iPad battery replacement fees

ravenviz Silver badge

My local mobile phone repair shop replaced my iPhone 8 battery for £40. All working fine!

Man wins court case against employer that fired him for not liking boozy, forced 'fun' culture

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: "Six Sigma”

I was more than happy to step outside corporate BS during the pandemic (aka made redundant). Now semi-retired on zero hours that I control, I have not looked back. I had a suspicion the Executive Team had self importance and wealth over the welfare of the company and employees, and have realised it can only be true. Why on Earth would you still keep working after your first $1M bonus?

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: @WonkoTheSane

Definitely need to look up Weird Al again!

NASA may tap SpaceX to rescue ISS 'nauts in Soyuz leak

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: Surely the solution is simple?

The problem with space suits is that one size fits one.

India schedules first crewed space mission for Q4, 2024

ravenviz Silver badge

Testing the crew escape system

Does the test include the humanoid payload?

NASA retires Mars InSight mission after it enters ‘dead bus’ condition

ravenviz Silver badge

It is a dead bus

It has ceased to beam

NASA's Mars InSight uploads its (probably) final image, shares it in a tweet

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: Car wash

If it’s anything like the Shell garage at the bottom of my road it will always be broken.

ravenviz Silver badge

lander's first image

I seem to recall that first image was to check the lander landed and could transmit an image back. Looking at the specks and flakes on the lens window, could there be an opportunity for a polarised light microscopy instrument on future missions?

Salesforce's new hires are less productive, says CEO Benioff

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: "Lower productivity"

Productivity is usually measured as dollars per unit time. Management has a $(sold)/t(sold) KPI, then ask the employee to log their t(actual) against individual projects without knowledge of the $(sold) and then tell them at the end of the project that their $(sold)/t(actual) is lower than the KPI, even when the employee has no knowledge of the $(sold) or t(sold), or any control over the t(actual).

ravenviz Silver badge

Maybe productivity/life balance is the new work/life balance.

NASA starts assessing Orion capsule for refurb

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: Born in ‘62

I'm hopeful we might be onto something this time!

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: Would I fly to the moon in a reused spaceship?

Virgin Galactic is just a fairground ride compared to Artemis.

UK arrests five for selling 'dodgy' point of sale software

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: designed and sold electronic sales suppression systems internationally

We get to blame COVID now as well, what’s not to like?!

The cubesats lost in space from Artemis Moon mission

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: It took a very long time...

Shirley the heat shield has done its thing by then.

ravenviz Silver badge

Re: It took a very long time...

I'm pretty sure they'll be getting the astronauts out of there lickety split! Ammonia venting and module recovery ponderances can then commence.

Galactic anti-nuclei travelers could help illuminate dark matter

ravenviz Silver badge

WIMPs

I remember writing a literature review essay on WIMPs in my undergraduate days in the 80's (when student life was like The Young Ones), supposedly reducing the temperature at the core of the Sun to explain the solar neutrino problem. It seems the problem is no longer a problem but WIMPs are still here!