Posts by druck 4204 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Jun 2007
I'm sorry, but what private industry has done more than the briefest sub orbital hops? They are still hell of a way from orbit.
The part of NASA that should be scrapped is that responsible for rotating temperature graphs. They should leave that to UEA and concentrate on the big fireworks, then they wouldn't have to rely on electric car salesmen to get to orbit.
While the best BBC Office ones is still visible (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?cbp=12,146.01,,3,-12.08&cbll=51.514925,-0.228768&layer=c&ie=UTF8&ll=51.514926,-0.228765&spn=0,359.99264&t=h&z=17&panoid=cRXQyRB9ywmaZVKuBSddWw|) one step up the road and he's now blurred (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?cbp=12,172.44,,3,-11.71&cbll=51.51494,-0.228553&layer=c&ie=UTF8&t=h&panoid=8f5C5uzI0xU7z_qSRGms8Q&ll=51.514925,-0.22875&spn=0,359.992822&z=17)
Polarised TVs work by either alternate columns or alternate rows of pixels being polarised 90 degrees apart, so that with glasses each containing a lens polarised 90 degrees apart, each eye see a separate image.
The main issues with it is that you only get half the vertical or horizontal resolution of the set when in 3D mode, and you have to keep your head straight to see the effect. The active shutter method gives the full resolution and works with your head in any orientation, but it does require twice as a high a refresh rate though to prevent the perception of the image flickering.
There isn't any need for such an expensive set, it's possible to retro fit perfectly good existing sets.
All modern LCDs can refresh the screen at 100Hz or more, so there is the scope to feed it a 100fps signal consisting of alternate left and right images for the 3D effect. To drive 3D shutter glasses, all that's needed is for the picture to contain two little left and right squares at the bottom left corner which are displayed on alternative frames, small optical sensors attached to the screen can then pick up which square is illuminated and send the signal switch on and off the appropriate eyes shutter.
This was all done back in the mid 80's on a BBC Micro to enable 3G wireframe graphics and steroscopic images to be viewed, and it worked well. Back then the glasses where wired to photo sensors stuck on the screen, and the effect was rather flickery as the monitor only refreshed at 50Hz. But with wireless glasses and 100Hz refresh, any TV could be a 3D TV for very little cost.
Can't forecast next week with any accuracy.
Can't even generalise about the season.
But apparently they are still 100% right on climate change predictions.
Perhaps if they stopped using the shiny new super computer for running models where the data is "fitted" to the "correct" answer, they might be able to improve 5 day forecasts instead.
I've got both a PAYG O2 dongle which I have been using with the 3GB/month £15 quid tariff, but don't need anywhere near 3GB, so 1GB for a tenner would save me a fiver.
The Vodafone non expiry deal is even better, and I managed to get hold of one even after they stopped offering the scheme (were still a few going on ebay), which is great as I've only used £2.14 of credit in 2 months.
Only trouble is I mainly use it on the train in and out of Cambridge, but despite O2 and Vodafone claiming to share 3G masts, where as I get a 3G signal with O2 on all apart from a small part of the route, with Vodafone I cant even get GPRS 10 miles outside Cambridge.
O2 and Vodafone as supposed to be sharing 3G masts now, but on the train in to Cambridge my O2 dongle can maintain signal almost the entire journey, where as my Vodafone one doesn't even have GPRS for much of the trip outside 10 miles from the city. It's damn annoying as the O2 one is £15 per month, and the Vodafone one is £15 until you've used 3GB.
This problem has hit some RISC OS computers which have a Dallas real time clock chip rather than a Philips one. It's down to the clock chip returning the date in binary coded decimal rather than plain binary. it worked up to now as the values 0-9 are the same in both schemes, but 10 is 0x10 in BCD rather than 0x0A, which the clock code has incorrectly read as 16, hence thinking it's 2016.
720 is larger improvement over 576 than you think. It's 720p (a full 720 lines every frame) rather than 576i (odd 288 lines one frame, even 288 lines the next). Depending on the set, you'll either see the annoying tearing effect on adjacent lines on any moving object caused by interlacing, or your set will try to de-interlace it, which generally involves making the picture less sharp.
"I agree that windows hasn't done anything really world-shaking since W95. That brought a whole new way of computing, with so much you could do even in its comparatively primitive environment."
That might have been work-shaking for sheltered and deprived Microsoft users, but there was no GUI concepts in Win95 that weren't in RISC OS (A British Operating system by Acorn) 6 years before, and done a lot better too.
I upgraded to FF 3.5.3 on my EEE 701, it complained about the out of date flash 9.something, I ignored that as I tried a 10.x flash previously and it was too slow for the poor little thing. However now it just hangs when it comes across any flash content.
I gave in and tried installing flash by clicking on the missing plug-ins bar, that failed both as user and root, a manual install from the Abobe hasn't worked either. So now I'm without flash and can't access half the sites I need to.
Mozilla aint Microsoft, leave our plug-ins the fuck alone, we are running things the way we are for a reason.
If the ISP's had any backbone, they'd retain the communications data for the mandated period, but insist on a court order for each individual customers data. No allowing trawling operations and no handing it over on mass for inclusion in a government unber-database.
But what hope do we have of that when the major ISPs are eager to base their business on handing over every single packet of data which passes through their network to former spyware vendors and crooks.
The shuttle might have proved an expensive and not entirely reliable way in to space, but this is the sort of job it excels at, and this mission is a fitting tribute to the closing stages of both it and the telescope's life. Without the shuttles ability to service it, Hubble would have been a huge flop rather than providing some of mankind's best views of the universe. Well done to NASA for allowing this last servicing mission to go ahead, and best of luck to the crew in their task.
I don't really want to see comments about stringing up politicians, we are a democracy after all. What we do have is the mental health act (1983) enabling self deluded individuals who are a danger to the public, to be indefinitely sectioned and removed to a secure institution, where they can receive the treatment they need (a long course of electro convulsive therapy in my opinion). After many years they may eventually be released back in to society, when they are in a position to value it's rights and freedoms.
Particularly when that same Merkan fruit company was in a join venture with the Cambridge nut company (called after that bit between your shoulder and wrist) to make RISC processors for things which were remarkably similar to todays Netbooks (named after the scientist who had a fruit drop on his head).
I think a gigantic iPod Touch would be a great idea. No need to go down the underpowered x86 route with short battery life, when you could use the latest ARM Cortex chip which would make the Touch's interface fly, even when scaled up to to a 10" display. The only thing I wouldn't like, no doubt, would be the price.
GCHQ is on the approach path for runway 27 at Gloucester Airport, and we fly over it on almost every trip and when doing circuits, it's an excellent landmark for getting lined up on the runway in low visibility and especially at night. So there is absolutely no difficulty getting overhead shots like on google earth, just ask for a pleasure flight at Staverton Flying School!
Systems capable of "meta-reasoning" and "introspection". Let's see how that would play:-
Robot36: Hey, I got a four ship. Looks like we got orange panels on them though. Do we have any friendlies up in this area?
Robot Control: I understand that was north 800 metres.
Robot Control: Robot, understand that was north 800 metres?
Robot35: Confirm, north 800 metres.Confirm there are no friendlies this far north on the ground.
Robot Control: That is an affirm. You are well clear of friendlies.
Robot35: Copy. I see multiple revetted vehicles. Some look like flatbed trucks and others are green vehicles. Can't quite make out the type. Look like may be Zil157s (Russian made trucks used by Iraqi army).
.....
Robot 36: OK. Right underneath you. Right now, there's a canal that runs north/south. There's a small village, and there are vehicles that are spaced evenly there.
Robot 36: They look like they have orange panels on though.
Robot35: He told me, he told me there's nobody north of here, no friendlies.
.....
Robot36: They've got something orange on top of them
Robot35: Robot for Manila 3, is Manila 34 in this area?
Robot Control: Say again?
Robot35: Robot Control, is Manila 34 in this area?
Robot Control: Negative. Understand they are well clear of that now.
Robot35: OK, copy. Like I said, multiple revetted vehicles. They look like flatbed trucks. Are those your targets?
Robot Control: That's affirm
Robot35: OK
.....
Robot36: I want to get that first one before he gets into town then.
Robot35: Get him - get him.
.....
[Sound of gunfire]...
Robot34: Roger, Robot. Be advised that in the 3122 and 3222 group box you have friendly armour in the area. Yellow, small armoured tanks. Just be advised.
Robot35: Ahh shit.
Robot35: Got a - got a smoke.
Robot34: Hey, Robot35, abort your mission. You got a, looks we might have a blue on blue situation.
Robot35: Fuck. God, bless it.
.....
Robot Control: We are getting an initial brief that there was one killed and one wounded, over.
Robot 35: Copy. RTB (return to base)
I'm going to be sick.
.....
Robot35: Did you hear?
Robot36: Yeah, this sucks.
Robot35: We're in jail dude
Fucking twitter? What sort of a protest is that? Get out there on the streets and march, block roads, cause chaos, bring the nation to a halt, before all your rights are taken away. Look at France, do you see them changing their twitter profiles, the fuck you do, viva la revolution.
And how is this going to help me? I changed from an 1800MHz to a 900MHz network out here in rural nowhere land as it was only one which penetrated the building. Now Ofcom are spitting off bits and messing everything around just to raise cash and justify their own existence. It needs bloody stopping.
The OQO 2+ still makes a sound like an angry power drill, and gets too hot to hold after a few minutes, and the PDA form factor is a terrible way to try to use a full desktop OS. Even the old 7" EEE PC is a vast improvement, quiet, not too hot to hold but also stands up on its own, a usable keyboard, the same resolution screen but not so small it makes your eyes bleed, and importantly a full THIRTEEN HUNDRED QUID LESS.
