Posts by Timbo

We're on our way already: Astroboffins find 5 potentially habitable Tatooine-like systems from Kepler 'scope

Re: Space is big

"...at an average 1% of the speed of light, which we can't, it would take 400,000 years to get there..."

Even in the 24th century the Next Gen "Enterprise" could only muster about 4 LY per day....so, nigh on 4,000 LY would take around 1,000 days at Warp 9 - that's still about 3 years of travelling (including maybe some time to accelerate and decelerate at the start and end of the journey).

Of course if one went at Warp 9.5 or more then this would reduce the time...but given that "transwarp conduits" and "quantum slipstream drive systems" have yet to be invented, I doubt we should hold our breath waiting !

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Warp_factor#Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation

Satellite collision anticipated by EU space agency fails to materialize... for now at least

Re: the 2007 Fengyun-1C anti-satellite missile test

As long as you also write a stiff letter to the USA concerning their 1985 "test", when they conducted an anti-satellite missile test using an ASM-135 ASAT to destroy the P78-1 satellite.

And another stiff letter concerning the 2008 "Operation Burnt Frost", when the USA launched another missile to bring down the non-functioning low-altitude NRO USA-193 satellite...which had a "classified" use designation (and assumed to be a High Def Radar system), though it was predcited that little debris would remain in space from this...but no one is sure.

NASA's Mars helicopter spins up its blades ahead of hoped-for 12 April hover

What's to stop...

...the wind blowing it over and stopping it from flying, before it's first flight?

As it sems to have been an oversight not to fit a "ring" around the rotor blades so if it does get blown over, the current design won't allow it to get back up again, as the blades won't be able to turn.

If that happens, then maybe Percy can go back to Ingenuity and pick it up or give it a nudge so it is standing vertical again?

And I really don't know why it will have taken until next Monday to fly...the rover landed on 18th February...so very nearly 2 months will have elapsed....yes, they need to do a system checkout, but they really need to pull their finger out...

Global tat supply line clogged as Suez Canal authorities come to aid of wedged 18-brontosaurus container ship

eerrr...not quite "by the side"

As of 20:54pm BST, both:

https://www.myshiptracking.com/?mmsi=353136000

and

https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9811000

were both still showing Ever Given as still straddling the Suez Canal, by the towns of Madama and Madiyah.

For some time now quite a few tugs have been giving assistance but to no avail as the bow (front) of the ship has run aground on the bank by some distance...and the ship seems to have lost power so cannot reverse itself off the sandbank....not that there is much room aft (behind) of it, as the canal at that point is only about 280m wide..and the ship is 400m long.

There are reports that they are trying to use a digger to get some earth/sand by the bow (on the eastern sandbank) moved so that the ship could be pulled around to face north (the original direction it was heading in), before being blown eastwards. One assumes that this was when they lost some/all power and could not correct the eastwards drifting.

If at first you don't succeed: Engineers power up the computers of NASA's monster SLS core stage once again

Is winter a good time to launch?

The launch of the SLS *might* happen this year, but as time moves on, if NASA do want to launch in 2021, with all the delays, it could be that they might have to launch in the winter...and who knows how the seals on the SRB's will cope with that?

We all know what happened with Challenger, sadly...so my bet is on a Spring 2022 "test" launch and maybe followed up quite quickly with the second launch, which may be crewed?

The 40-Year-Old Version: ZX81's sleek plastic case shows no sign of middle-aged spread

Re: "Some dealt with the RAM pack with..."

I was working for a firm that had it's own in-house service dept and my £49 pre-bult ZX81 (bought from WH Smiths, along with a £19 16K RAMPAC) was handed over to one of the service guys to see if he could fix the "wobble".

He did - by removing the edge conenctor from the RAMPACK and soldering the ZX81 edge connector, directly to the RAMPACK (by way of many short wires).

And it then worked very well after that !!

9 years after SpaceX strode into Texas village, Elon Musk floats name change for Boca Chica: 'Starbase'

Re: Wenhop

"Icon chosen for obvious reasons."

The icon was well chosen as despite a "bang on the button" landing, about 8 minutes later it did go "Boom" - seems it might have had too heavy a landing and an internal fire ruptured something and some propellant leaked causing an RUD.

But the data they collected should be fine for SN11...as long as they can slow it down a bit more on landing !

Seagate UK customer stung by VAT on replacement drive shipped via the Netherlands

Re: It's a UPS issue

"Your mistake was using UPS. They're blacklisted at my employer due to their many cockups"

Actually, it wasn't MY mistake, it was the seller...but at the time his usual courier, DPD, had suspended courier deliveries to the UK, due to the impact of Kent variant of Covid, plus a huge issue of trucks stuck in Kent, due to France closing their borders.

So, *his* 2nd choice was UPS, as they had NOT suspended courier services to UK. It was only due to inefficiencies with the Customs handling process that caused the issue both with the O/P and for my shipment.

But lesson learned and UPS won't be used again.

I've also heard from someone else, within my sector of industry, that they too have had issues with imports coming via UPS from The Netherlands and Germany too...in their case, the goods are still "in the UPS system" 3 weeks later. :-(

Oh and I also received an email from UPS telling me that their storage fees were £13 per day (after 3 days), if I took my time paying the "government charges and docmentation fees".

I wonder how many UK firms are paying up, just to get goods imported via UPS, even if they are being over-charged for these fees... :-(

It's a UPS issue

I had a very similar issue with UPS recentrly importing goods that were made in the EU into the UK.

First UPS wanted to charge me around GBP 930 BEFORE they would deliver to me, which included "government charges" of around GBP 905 plus "documentation fees" of just under GBP 25.

The "government charges" represent 20% (ie the VAT amount) of the declared value of of the goods, converted into GBP (from EURO) using the UK Government online "exchange rate" for the relevant period.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-exchange-rates-for-2021-monthly

As a VAT and EORI registered business, you can advise couriers to use "Postponed VAT accounting" (PVA) to declare the VAT value on your quaretly return, instead of paying upfront to a courier. You do not need to tell the UK Govt you are doing this - just advise the courier.

Getting UPS to "register" my EORI number took me a week !! (You can email them at [e-mail] to register)

And then UPS tried to charge me customs duty of 2% on the value as they claimed that "Third Country" duty was applicable....I had to get them to re-check the commerical invoice (sent with the goods) to see that there was a "SIGNED DECLARATION" on the commercial invoice stating that the items were made in Germany.

Therefore under the FREE TRADE AGREEMENT, the UK is the "second country" and no duty applies to the commodity code of items listed on the invoice....though some products, such as food, dairty meat, livestock etc may have other duties applies).

Eventually I got my package, 16 days affter it was ready for collection Germany on 2nd Feb 2021 !!

re: Returning items for repair/replacement

There is a way of declaring items for repair/replacement that avoids all the duty issues - and its down to the sender and shipper to do this in advance. HMRC website covers this:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-can-delay-customs-duty-and-import-vat

We need a 20MW 20,000-GPU-strong machine-learning supercomputer to build EU's planned digital twin of Earth

Re: I can see where this is going

"By the early '30s DestinE will have become a singularity and will begin remedying the prime causes that are threatening the Earth's climate and ecology."

So, another name could be "Skynet" or maybe "The Matrix" ?? (Both had the same idea of essentially getting rid of humans so that a machine future was inevitable).

"Agent Smith:

I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure."

No fair! Space Launch System gets cool stickers even though monster rocket failed test

2nd Trump term "send off" ?

"The delay is likely to signify an end to hopes of launching Artemis I this year, and add further weight (if any were needed) to the argument for a delay to the 2024 landing on the Moon so beloved by the previous US administration."

One wonders if the previous US administration, lead by (now private citizen) Trump, endorsed this so that the moon mission took place during his 2nd term of office and it would have perhaps cemented Trumps "Make America Great Again" campaign. After all, Nixon did quite well out of the Apollo moon landings (until Watergate) - even though it was JFK's idea to get men on the moon "in this decade".

€121,000 YOGA Book Android is 'priced right' says Lenovo

Been done before...

Way back in about the mid-1980's, a certain British high-end amplifier manufacturer, called Naim Audio, were frequently berated by customers who'd bought their amplifier product(s) but wanted a matching FM tuner to go with their other prized items.

So, back in those pre-internet days, customers would usually telephone or write in and ask the sales dept to design and supply a tuner but Naim refused.

This carried on for a number of years, by which time Naim had worked out how much time was being spent answering calls/letters or talking to punters at audio shows. So they designed and manufactured the NAT-01 FM tuner and sold them for £1500 each.

And, lo and behold, all the punters requests, for this type of product, ceased pretty quickly. !!

Of course, this Lenovo product also prompts the question: What's with the pricing that ends in 0.79? And the clue here is that certain retailers price some products with a specific ending to the price, which informs the shop staff about the actual product itself so:

Some "made up" examples:

ending 0.99 - this is the items normal price

ending 0.98 - it's on special offer for a specific period

ending 0.97 - it's discontinued, there won't be any more/a new version is out soon and we need to clear stock quickly

ending 0.96 - there some extra commission on this one as our assistant buyer bought too many and we need to pay the supplier for it real quick

ending 0.95 - it's ex-demo and sold as seen

Voyager 2 receives and executes first command in 11 months as sole antenna that reaches it returns to work

Re: Raise a beer

Isn't Voyager now almost in interstellar space? And with few nearby objects to deflect it's direction of travel.

So, in theory, it's travelling in a straight line...so it should be fairly easy to know which point in space to point a ground based radio telescope at?

The Linux box that runs the exec carpark gate is down! A chance for PostgreSQL Man to show his quality

Re: Had a call...

I got made redundant at about 4:30pm on the last day of the month and with immediate effect (note: I hadn't done anything wrong - the senior management just decided to shut down my department).

The MD told me that I should "take a couple of days off and come back in on Friday" to collect my redundancy cheque. It seems that he thought that the day after I was made redundant, that the firm would still be paying me my salary and so it was in his good grace, to allow me take some time off.

I gave him short shrift and in no uncertain terms, told that I would NOT be taking "a couple of days off", as I'd be looking for another job !

PS: The firm was British and the MD was American - maybe the yanks had different laws back then (this was in 1995), but I know what the word "immediate" means and sadly the MD, one Mr R Lepper, didn't.

(I have no qualms about naming and shaming the twat...hopefully, Google spiders this website and this story might turn up in a search some day... ;-) )

(And posted as Anon, simply because he needs to be shamed and I don't !!)

Nominet faces showdown with British internet industry: Extraordinary vote called to oust CEO, board members

Nominet has been doing things wrong....

...for some time now, and especially since 2016.

As a non-profit organisation, that was created to ensure fairness as well as charity giving, it was a shining light on how the UK internet industry would be run, compared to some other naming registrars I've had to deal with.

But it changed course, shut down various bona fide operations and then set about following a different doctrine, that seems to be a way for the board to award themselves pay rises, and have shut down mechanisms where due criticism could be aired and ensured that they can control whoever sits on the board, thereby preventing anyone "questioning" with their management.

Sounds like a case of "Trumpism"?...and we all know how that ended as it collapsed like a deck of cards....

Sadly, I'm not a member of Nominet, but given the case made on the publicbenefit website (and having been involved in website hosting and domain name registration for over 20 years), I am shocked to see that a significant number of the Top 20 webhosting compaies are NOT backing this campaign....and especially NONE of the Top 10 are backing it (at least publicly) !!

Posn Member - #Domains #Votes

#1 GoDaddy.com (123-reg, Heart, TSOHost, Daily, Domain Monster) - 3,642,290 210,298

#2 1&1 Ionos (Ionos, Fasthosts) - 1,696,701 210,298

#3 Namesco (LCN) - 612,238 210,298

#4 TUCOWS (OpenSRS, Enom) - 381,468 210,298

#5 Register.com (Web.com, NetworkSolutions) - 269,750 210,298

#6 Corporation Service Company (UK) - 243,202 210,298

#7 Namecheap - 201,355 202,686

#8 Iomart Hosting (Easyspace) - 145,213 146,544

#9 Key-Systems (CentralNic, InternetBS) - 134,040 135,371

#10 UK2 - 132,495 133,826

No cards, thanks, we're contactless-less: UK supermarket giants hit by card payment TITSUP*

"One thing I hate about Morrisons self-service is you have to touch the screen to select contactless, the same wee square everyone else touches. Kind of defeats the purpose, though I just poke it with a pencil."

So, why not use the anti-bacterial fluid (usually in a pump-action bottle) on your way OUT of the store (as well as using it as you enter and grab your trolley or basket)?

Arecibo Observatory brings forward 'controlled demolition' plans by collapsing all by itself

Re: Shame

...abd don't forget it's not "normal" atmospherics causing the corrosion...Puerto Rico is very "tropical" and being an island, there's a lot of salt in the air, as Arecibo is just 18 deg North of the equator...

And even well made 60 year old support cables will not last forever.

The pity is that a lack of funding failed to be invested in the maintenance of the facility over time and eventaully something was bound to happen.

Fortunately the issues in August and November was just enough to cause some safety fears to eb rasied and this ensured that no-one was working on the site...as without those storms, it is quite possible it may have collapsed on it's own anyway. :-(

Re: Moichandising!

"Much better to turn it into a massive skate/bike park. A half-dome instead of a half-pipe, you see."

The inverted "dome" is pretty much destroyed...the August "storm" casued a cable to break and that fell to one side of the main buildings...and now the receiver section has come down, it decided to land almost opposite the first "hole" in the dish.

Likewise the main boom, under which the receiver section was "hung", fell down onto another part of the dome.

And needless to say the dome was never built to withstand high tonnage of parts falling down from a great height, onto the panels... :-(

Re: ::insert moment of silence::

"with the money going to places where it's really needed, like figuring out new and novel ways to funnel money into politicians pockets"

You should have said "...to funnel money into politicians and their friends & families pockets"

Calls for 'right to repair' electronics laws grow louder across Europe

UK Govt changed the rules...

Some time back, it was well known that manufacturers had to keep spare parts available for up to 7 years AFTER a product was discontinued to ensure that repairs with original parts could be carried out.

This was rescinded by UK Govt maybe 10-15 years ago - I'm not sure which political party was in "power" at the time...but it has lead to an inevitable change in manufacturing to the point where many products are priced (at retail) on the basis that a certain percentage will go wrong and cannot be repaired.

I worked for one such company and they included a 5% "allowance" in their prime cost, to take account of an expected out of the box failure rate of up to 5%. In actual fact, the initial faliure rate turned out to be less than 2% to begin with but which reduced to less than 1% over time.

Hence this 5% allowance means the failed items have been "paid for".

The failed products were initially put in a skip and crushed...as they were made in China and could not be sent back for reparation. But as more of these products were sold, and more "trivial" issues arose, so these failed items were cannibalised for parts.

Re: Would this work?

"If manufacturers won't make products repairable because it costs too much, one option would be to price-in the repairability. If the repairability score is R=1..10, say, charge VAT at 10*(10-R)%, so it's 90% for the least repairable item and 0% for the most repairable. That way there would be a significant financial incentive to make (and to buy) more repairable products."

Who would you get to offer the assessment for an items "repairability"?

A more obvious step would be to offer longer warrantees (say 5-7 years) on products such that the manufacturer (or their appointed agents) HAVE to repair the item within this period.

If the product is well made and well designed, in principle it won't go wrong....so there's no cost to the manufacturer. If it can be repaired, then no problem - let them do it.

But if it is unrepairable, the manufacturer will be required to report that to a Govt Dept, who can then charge them for it.

Aviation regulator outlines fixes that will get the 737 MAX flying again

Re: Still relatively unsafe?

"I remember reading that the 737 MAX is just generally less stable than its competitors because the engines are so far forward that they're ahead of the center of gravity of the plane. So, if the nose starts going up, the air catching the engine cowling pushes the nose even further up. That's why there's an MCAS in the first place -- to prevent that instability."

EXACTLY....The MCAS was put there to prevent the problem caused by using more effcient engines which (IIRC) are larger and hence there was far less clearance between the underside of the engines and the ground. So, they moved the engines and the C of G changed...

And it seems that today (18th Nov) the FAA has cleared the 737 MAX to fly again BUT only after mods have been carried out...but no mention of changing the engines or it's mounting position:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54981658

This is how demon.co.uk ends, not with a bang but a blunder: Randomer swipes decommissioning domain

I'd add BlueYonder into the list as they were the ISP associated with Telewest who got merged into NTL, that then became Virgin.

I think I've got some old freebie magazine CD's somewhere where every month some firm was offering a freebie ISP service...you just clicked on a brand icon on the first screen when you loaded up the auto-running CD and chose the one you wanted to sign up for...

Howdy, er, neighbor – mind if we join you? Potential sign of life spotted in Venus's atmosphere

errr...another possibility exists...

...and that is that both USA and Russia/USSR have sent probes to Venus, which have penetrated the Venusian atmosphere.

eg:

Venera program — USSR Venus orbiter and lander (1961–1984) - various probes entered Venus atmosphere

Pioneer Venus project — US Venus orbiter and entry probes(1978) - 4 probes entered Venus atmosphere

Vega program — USSR mission to Venus and Comet Halley (1984) - 2 probes entered Venus atmosphere

Magellan probe — US Venus orbiter (1989) - craft entered Venus atmosphere at end of mission

Venus Express — ESA probe sent for the observation of the Venus's weather (2005) - deorbited at end of mission

So, there is a possibility that one or more of these craft were not 100% "biomedically" clean, and that some organism(s) from Earth were carried on one (or more) of the probes and have now had time to acclimatise to the conditions on Venus and subsequently have multiplied to the point where they are now detectable?

A bridge too far: Passengers on Sydney's new ferries would get 'their heads knocked off' on upper deck, say politicos

Re: They could

"You are thinking small. If you dredge deep enough then eventually there will not be enough water to fill the gap and job done !"

Well, the Parramatta River drains into the Tasman Sea - and hence is linked to the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and every other ocean...

Also, one would need to dredge a VERY, VERY. VERY long way down to be able to drain most of the oceans.

A simpler way would be to just put in a "lock" (at an appropriate place) and thereby have control over the height of the inland waterway.

"Admittedly raising the bridge is probably less work."

Just a bit !!

It only seems to be an issue at HIGH tide...so for most trips it will be OK.

Just need to close the top deck at these times.

Re: They could

"Dredge out the bottom so the sea level went down."

That, clearly won't work as water finds it own level...and dredging the bottom of the river will just allow more water to fill the gap.

"Or flood the bilges and lower the boat."

That makes more sense...as long as the bilges are large enough. Another option would be to add more ballast so the boat sits lower in the water

"Or replace all the bridges with London Bridge type opening bridges."

OK - that's the one - and as you thought of it first, so can you send them some money to cover the costs of your brainwave please.

PS I think you meant TOWER Bridge. :-)

Crack this mystery: Something rotated the ice shell around Jupiter's Europa millions of years ago, fracturing it

Re: My 2 Cents worth

"So nothing hit it and caused the shift but what about about a close pass of an extremely dense object."

Something large, heavy and dense.....something like Jupiter then ?

(And yes I know it's a gas giant, but the part-solid, part-liquid core might be pretty dense).

Arthur C. Clarke predicted it:

All these worlds are yours except Europa. Attempt no landing there. !!

Russia tested satellite-to-satellite shooter, say UK and USA

I can think for two instances that may give "pause for thought":

1) A "multi-shot" capable satellite could be put into a "stealth" orbit and every now and then a satellite suddenly goes dead for no apparent reason. Such a "killer satellite" could easily be used as a blackmail weapon (I know, like something out of James Bond)

2) In a similar way, what could have been fired could be more like a "harpoon" device, that pierces/attaches itself to a dead satellite and it's trajectory is changed such that it burns up in the atmosphere.

https://www.space.com/space-junk-harpoon-removedebris-satellite-video.html

I'm more thinking along the second idea, simply because we know that Russia does like "copying" other nations ideas - Tupolev Tu-144 (Concordski)? and Buran (Space Shuttle)? both spring to mind...

Fresh astro-underwear, anyone? Orbital shenanigans as Progress freighter has last-minute ISS docking wobble

Only 3 hours?

I guess it's down to the Russian rockets launching from Baikonur but it seems very strange that they only take 3 hours to reach the ISS and yet SpaceX takes much longer (about 19 hours - eg: Crew Demo 2 launched on 30 May 2020 at 19:22:45 UTC and soft docked at 14:16 UTC on 31 May 2020.

Baikonur is at 45.965°N 63.305°E and yet Kennedy is at 28°31′27″N 80°39′03″W.

Maybe it's down to the fact that rockets leaving Kennedy are normally launched towards the East over the Atlantic on a "just in case" basis? (and not "initially" flying over built up areas).

Can someone else can elucidate?

Analogue radio given 10-year stay of execution as the UK U-turns on DAB digital future

Re: Its not DAB that sucks, its the broadcasters

"Licencees squeeze the bandwidth just to push more terrible channels."

No, it's Arqiva keeping the cost of broadcasting tranmissions high (as cost is proportional to bandwidth used by each station) and of OFCOM for not releasing more frequencies for radio stations to use...and therefore more multiplexes could operate, meaning stations could broadcast in near enough CD quality (say 320kb/s stereo) as opposed to 48 or 64 kb/s mono.

Cynical?

"Given that DAB is basically an outdated spec, and limited to the UK"

DAB was designed back in the late 1980's (as part of the Eureka project) as a way of increasing the radio spectrum, using up the "space in the ether" that was used for 405 line (B&W) TV.

At the time MP2 encoding was "de rigeur" and as such, once the format was established, the BBC started broadcasting in 1995 and carried 4 stations (IIRC) at 256 kb stereo and it was quite groundbreaking to hear music with wide bandwidth (compared to the 15 kHz HF limit on FM, due to the 19 kHz pilot tone) and no noise.

A commercial licensee came about in 1999 and they started broadcasting a number of stations some of which continue to this day.

But the issue was always one of "price" as the initial way of receiving the signal was from one of 4 different brands of hi-fi tuner (Sony, Technics, ARCAM and one other I forget) and via ONE "mains portable" made by Roberts.

Times move on and 30 years on, and DAB, when given a chance, still works very well...BUT it has been stifled by a lack of support by OFCOM (who are not keen to increase the number of licenses to broadcast) and by Arqiva (who own the transmitters) to lower their pricing structure and to widen the number of main and secondary transmitters to ensure that the Single Frequency Network can provide a good signal strength to anyone.

In the meantime, new codecs have been developed and DAB+ can carry more signals within the limited bandwidth (approx 1 Gb/s) of each multiplex frequency.

And many countries in Europe and around the world have adopted DAB/DAB+ as their "replacement" system for national radio, as FM has too many issues that cannot be worked around.

A more positive licensing strategy from OFCOM would help make DAB/DAB+ a much better system...but they do not want to move, as they are stuck in a 1980s rut of wanting to control everything. :-(

Crazy UK idiots...

The issue from the very start has been:

a) the financial costs that Arqiva charges make for broadcasting DAB - so carrying stereo costs twice as much as carrying mono. Nett result is radio stations only trasnmit in mono to save money

b) There are 37 individual DAB multiplexs available for use within the UK - and OFCOM have licensed just three National multiplexes - so BBC, Digital One and Sound Digital. London has 3 "local" mulitplexes, but other cities/large towns might only have 1, maybe 2.

This means there is less space on each mutiplex for more stations....and about 30 multiplex frequencies are completely unused.

*IF* the idiots at OFCOM had actually licensed the remaining multiplexes, that would provide more bandwidth and so radio stations could then transmit at 320kb stereo, instead of 64kb mono (which leads to better sound). And then Arqiva need to reduce the price of transmission and make their money from having many more stations available instead of just a few.

The problem with FM is that the BBC have multiple frequencies spaced apart by a few 00s of kHz for just 4 radio stations (1 through 4) as these are needed to prevent nearby transmitters "beating" interference.....a problem that DAB doesn't have as nearby DAB transmitters create a mesh to improve the signal....which leaves little space for any NEW radio stations, esp those who want a national presence.

As is usual with UK "controlling" instituitions is that they just don't have a clue how to make the most of the technology.

If there's a lesson to be learned in these torrid times, it's that civilisation is fleeting – but Windows XP is eternal

Samsung monitor w/embedded Win XP?

The photo used seems to show a Samsing monitor, displaying Windows XP.

What's the betting that is actually a Samsung Pro monitor, that has built in (embedded) Win XP ?

The 320MXN-2 (for instance, and it's siblings) could be booted off it's internal 4Gb FDM which ran Embedded XP and could be used for displaying PowerPoint or other slideshows/video on it's built in media player, so ideal for use in shops and with it's built in ethernet port it could display live info from a local or web-connected server.

https://www.samsung.com/ph/support/model/LH32MGULBC/XD/

Hey, Boeing. Don't celebrate your first post-grounding 737 Max test flight too hard. You just lost another big contract

Re: One question

"I'm pretty confident it will have a sterling safety record as no bugger will fly in it."

But the problem is that in some cases, passengers don't know what plane they are going to fly in, until they either get to the "Gate" or they are on board and browsing the safety info cards.

(Though I know that some airlines disclose which plane they use if you are lucky enough to book specific seats on the plane).

Even so, many passengers simply might not have a choice if they need to get to a particular destination...even if flying on a 737 Max is no guarantee of getting there in one piece !!

Intel outside: Chip king Keller quits x86 giant immediately 'for personal reasons'

"After a couple of years the new strategy isn't working - which apparently it didn't in the previous companies either. As the board don't want to admit their mistake in public - a golden handshake - and after a suitable period of gardening leave a move to another company touting the same pet strategy. Eventually the lieutenants will follow - while the company recruits another person from the charmed circle who has a pet strategy."

This sort of employment strategy is also prevalent in other areas - such as (Association) Football. There are countless Premier (and other league) managers who are on a constant merry-go-round with their own set of coaching staff and "back-room physios" being appointed to certain clubs and within months/a couple of years they move on...due to their apparent failure to win enough games.

And I've even seen this in another industry, where a success-proven "sales rep" would be enticed to switch firms - and they would then recruit some of their former colleagues to the new company...they would stay a few years and then one of them would be enticed somewhere else...and so it goes on.

Speaker for yourself: Looks like 5 patents are table stakes as Google countersues Sonos

Re: Invention?

"B&O were selling for consumers (like Sonos) and the small multiroom wall control units could redirect audio from your central Radio/CD/Vinyl/Cassette players to a specific room."

I used to sell and install B&O systems, back in the 1980's and the system to which you refer was called a Master Control Link...it was a remote control unit fitted in other rooms, which allowed you to select the source, change the volume and switch that rooms speakers on and off.

It comprised a small panel that contained an infra-red remote "eye" for each room, that was fitted in a slim plastic box that could be fitted on a wall which was linked by a multicore cable to a speaker switch box that was placed out of sight within each room - and that is where the speakers in that room plugged into. This switch box was then connected by a thicker multi-conductor cable back to the B&O receiver/amplifier or music centre.

In other words it was a very elaborate remote control speaker switching system and you could only select ONE source to play at a time - and that was the only one that could be "played" over the entire system...if someone wanted the radio on, in another room, you couldn't play a CD in your room at the same time.

At least with the Sonos system, you can have multiple sources playing all at once in diffferent rooms, via different Sonos products placed in each room and all working over a wireless connection.

Saturn's largest satellite, Titan, is drifting away from its planet 100 times faster than previously thought

"maybe it is actually Titan's inhabitants desperately moving their moon closer to sun to warm up ?"

As Titan is in orbit around Saturn, it is highy unlikely that Titan would be moving closer to the Sun.

Titan might get 11 cm closer to the Sun (each year) IF apogee AND Titan eclipsing Saturn occured at the same time.

And when Saturn eclipses Titan, Titan would of course be getting FURTHER away from the Sun, by a whole 11 cm.

(One assumes it is the mean radius of Titans orbit that is increasing at 11 cm per year).

Repair store faces hefty legal bill after losing David and Goliath fight with Apple over replacement iPhone screens

Re: Mine!

"I have no intention of ever buying Apple stuff, it is over priced.....(but I admit they do look pretty)"

I overheard pretty much a similar story from a couple in a hi-fi shop some time ago. The shop sold both typical black-faced (or silver-faced) Far Eastern manufactured hi-fi kit as well as Bang & Olufsen (made in Denmark).

The wife liked the B&O as it was simple to operate, and looked "pretty" - while the man said he had no intention of buying B&O as it was over-priced, and wasn't "good value" and other brands "sounded better and were cheaper".

So, not a lot of diffference...

Brit MP demands answers from Fujitsu about Horizon IT system after Post Office staff jailed over accounting errors

Re: Any chance

"A short drive gave him confidence to drive back to London and go back to work."

*IF* he was unsure of his eyesight, then why didn't his WIFE drive them back to London - she can drive and has a driving licence.

PS: She also wrote an article in the Spectator magazine that implied she was in London observing "lockdown" rules, when in fact she was in Durham...

Cummins has basically been "caught out" by not following Govt guidelines and wants to deflect attention away from his "control" over BoJo. The little arse didn't even apologise or show any remorse whilst giving his statement...

Hoverbikes, Hyperloops and sub-orbital hijinks: Yes, the '3rd, 4th and 5th Dimensions of Travel' are coming soon

Re: Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

It's all well and good these futurists predicting high speed travel, whether it be via HyperLoop, Maglev, HS2 or some soon to be developed tech, invented by some billionaire.

But the fundamental issue is not so much about travelling fast...but the issue(s) arising once you get to that speed...and then have to stop... as a failure to stop "under control" could lead to significant health issues for the travellers. :-(

(Stopping "out of control" is easy..but you will not get any repeat customers).

Re: Future travel predictions

"Where's my bloody Jet Pack?"

That would be Willy - he has it !!

TCL 10L: Remember the white goods flinger that had a licence to make BlackBerrys? It made a new own-name phone

TCL 10 Pro ?

By chance I saw on ITV tonight that Idealworld.tv are offering the TCL 10 Pro for £399 + a free TCL 32" Android based TV...

https://www.idealworld.tv/gb/pp/tcl-10-pro-6-47inch-smartphone-quad-rear-camera-with-free-32inch-tv-by-redemption--514897

It looks like an impressive mobile: 4500mAh battery, 4 cameras (one of which is 64MPixel) Quick charging and 4G.

(Dsiclaimer - I have absolutely nothing to do with idealworld or TCL)

The Last J-Freighter: HTV-9 arrives at the ISS as ESA inks a deal for a third Moon-bound service module

"£1m, what a bold move."

Indeed - that's just about enough to hold some post-lockdown, post social-distancing meetings in a few sun-drenched, far-off beach resorts, where a few buddies can sit around a pool, drinking some nice cocktails and enjoying the best of times, and come up with a hypothetical plan for capturing small pieces of former satellites and/or rockets, travelling at >20,000 mph.

My betting is they will capture Musks old Tesla car and then drive around in various Earth orbits, armed with a butterfly net and a fishing rod with a magnet on the end. :-)

Dude, where's my laser?

Re: Not unbelievable

"The 70s were still early stage development for lasers."

I'm sorry but James Bond (and his manly bits) nearly copped it in 1964 at the hand of Auric Goldfinger and his laser...and in 1971 when Blofeld used a space laser to blackmail governments...and in 1974 Scaramanger had a working laser that could destroy small planes...

The above "historical documentaries" are available to view on the BBC at various times, so they must be TRUE.

So, it's clear that US of A had some working lasers before the "70s" that (obviously) some foreign powers hacked into the computers storing the designs and the plans were then sold off to the likes of SPECTRE and SMERSH !!

NASA's Human Spaceflight boss hits eject a week before SpaceX crew launch

Re: Going while the going's good

It had occured to me some time ago, that what NASA should have been building were both Earth and Moon orbiting space stations.

Then cheap flights (using re-usable boosters) up to the Earth station could take place. An Earth-Moon transiting "shuttle" could then do the 250m mile journey back and forth between them and at Moon Station, a lunar lander could be stationed that heads to the surface and comes back again.

One could then have a second Lunar lander as a rescue vehicle in case Lander #1 failed.

All of this would be a lot cheaper than building one very large SLS, the majority of which is "lost" after launch...and hence this is a very costly exercise that only benefits the builder of the craft (as they will get repeat orders).

Getting stuff into space is expensive if it is large (and hecne needs heavy lift rockets)...but once it is IN space, it is re-useable and cost-effective.

Meteorite's tiny secrets reveal Solar System's sodium-rich, alkaline liquid past – a clue to formation of life

So, perhaps the Drake equation...

...can now be further extrapolated along the lines of...

"N = the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which communication might be possible (i.e. which are on our current past light cone);

and

R∗ = the average rate of star formation in our galaxy

fp = the fraction of those stars that have planets

ne = the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets

fl = the fraction of planets that could support life that actually develop life at some point

fi = the fraction of planets with life that actually go on to develop intelligent life (civilizations)

fc = the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space

L = the length of time for which such civilizations release detectable signals into space"

So, perhaps we need to add in:

a) = the fraction of dust particles that have an alkaline composition that turn into clumps of material

b) = the fraction of clumps of material that have sufficient water within it

c) = the fraction of water-laden alkaline clumps that just happen to land on a primordial world in an area of space where water is liquid

It truly does begin to look like we do live in a very "Goldilocks" zone, where despite all the likelihood of life NOT forming, on Earth it did.

It's official! Space travel increases the brain size of astronauts, even when they're back on Mother Earth

"I heard having a brain the size of a planet makes you depressed."

Maybe being depressed makes your brain the size of a planet !!

and there was me thinking of Tefal man...

This is quite amusing...Ms Vorderman, a young-ish Kelly Brook and Harry Enfield in a quirky Tefal advert....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKodMvfpKPI

and one for Tefal steam irons - watch out for the tea lady who's a chess grandmaster !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r7XfhTKRMw