Posts by fishman

SpaceX accuses 'meme-stock' rival of 'misinformation' over Starlink signals waiver

Trump will just fire the non partisan FCC/FAA bureaucrats and replace them with partisan appointees that will do Musk's bidding.

US govt hiding top hurricane forecast model sparks outrage after deadly Helene

Re: Yet another way Trump admin fucked the public

The contract was signed in 2020. Trump was president until January 21, 2021.

FCC boss starts bringing up Musk's Starlink dominance, antitrust concerns

While NASA did fund the development of Falcon 9 / Cargo dragon, NASA made out quite well since SpaceX charged $100M less per launch than the other commercial cargo winner Orbital ATK.

India delays planned space station and moon base by five years

JFK

Makes you appreciate JFK's pledge to send men to the moon and back in this decade (1960's). Mission accomplished with 5 months to spare.

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

Billionaires vs China vs ....

Don't forget that a third choice for many of us are megacorporation ISPs like Verizon or Comcast.

A pox on all of their houses.

Facebook prank sent techie straight to Excel hell

Timeouts

Back in the early 1980's we had a PDP-11/73 as the office computer, running TSX+ (a multiuser version of RT-11). I was put in charge of the computer. The editor program would timeout after a certain period of inactivity, printing a message when it would exit. I had written a program that would allow me to replace a string with another string in any type of file including an executable. So I replaced the timeout message with the message "CPU meltdown - program aborted". One user ran into my office scared that he had broken our computer......

The X Window System is still hanging on at 40

Both are ancient

Wayland - Swapping out one ancient window system for a different less ancient window system.

Additional hatch operations on a Boeing vehicle – but this time it's Starliner

Re: Rescue mission

No - just use Boeing-style pricing.

(At one point it was estimated that SpaceX charged the government $55M per seat, and Boeing charged $90M per seat).

Return to office mandates had senior employees jumping ship

Joseph Stilwell.

Relax, Google's drop in search market share in April was just an illusion

Tired of targeted ads.

I got tired of getting targeted ads based on my search history. Sometimes it got..... creepy.

So I've switched to Duck Duck Go. Problem solved.

NASA taps trio of companies to build the next generation of lunar rover

Used are far cheaper

There are a couple of lightly used lunar rovers already on the moon - just bring a set of new batteries, a replacement fender, and you are set to go.

Judge demands social media sites prove they didn't help radicalize mass shooter

Re: Or you could fix ...

Bombs. If you don't know about them until they go off, it's too late to run.

Varda capsule proves you don't need astronauts for gravity-defying science

Re: How did they develop the capsule and heat shield?

When something is "Human Rated" far more testing is required.

Firefly software snafu sends Lockheed satellite on short-lived space safari

Re: Exactly this...

"Earlier space efforts were built on rigor, lengthy and specific and detailed checklists that were themselves built on checklists, and everyone involved was focused on getting as close to perfection as humanly possible. It didn't hurt that governments and the populace were both literally and figuratively invested in the work and the outcomes."

This is the type of arguement Boeing used to try to cut SpaceX out of the commercial crew program. We all know how well that worked out.

"I does seem that SpaceX manages a little better than most, somehow."

SpaceX has over 200 consecutive successful booster *landings* with the Falcon 9. One can argue that the the Falcon 9 is the safest rocket ever - the current version of the Falcon 9, Block 5, has 245 consecutive launch successes.

I'd imagine that the cost to insure a satellite is going to be quite a bit cheaper if it is being launched on a Falcon 9.

NASA's VIPER is half-built, with launch plans for this year

Vulcan

Since this is being launched on an untested rocket NASA must be getting a fantastic deal on the launch costs.

Amazon hitches a ride with SpaceX for Project Kuiper launches

tight schedule

Even if all three of the other rockets (Ariane 6, Vulcan and Glenn) make their initial launches "on time", there is a big difference between that and having the sort of launch cadence needed for Kuiper. Heck, can BO put out enough BE-4 engines for both New Glenn and Vulcan to meet their schedules (which also include non-Kuiper launches)? While NG's booster is to be reusable it's going to take a number of launches before they will be reflying boosters - more BE-4 engines.

I would be pleasantly surprised if all three launch providers could meet their schedules. But I expect SpaceX will get at least a dozen extra Kuiper launches to cover it.

Ariane 5 to take final flight, leaving Europe without its own heavy-lift rocket

Driving costs down.

The way to drive costs down is through reusability and a high launch cadence.

The high launch cadence means that the costs of the rocket development and the costs of the launch, landing, and test facilities can be spread over more launches. The problem for an "Ariane 7" is that they will be competing not only with the Falcon 9 but also New Glenn, Neutron, Terran R, reusable rockets from China and India, and ..... Starship. Now I'm not saying that there isn't a market for an Ariane 7, but unless someone wants to use it to deploy a massive satellite array like Starlink it will have trouble getting a high launch cadence.

Wind tunnels for fluid dynamics boffins among UKRI's £72M funding

Re: Wind Tunnels. 11 of them?

10 years ago I used a large eddy simulation code to analyze a simple cylinder in a flow - basically a 3D version of a 2D problem. It took 4 days using 128 cores to run it.

NASA to tear the wings off plane in the name of sustainability

Limits to size

Airports are designed for a maximum wing span for a plane. The MD90 is a small plane, but scaling this up to a much bigger plane might not be possible or at least limit the number of airports it could fly to/from.

Of course Russia's ex-space boss doubts US set foot on the Moon

Trampoline

Rogozin probably was using his trampoline and ended up landing on his head too many times.

Cisco Moscow trashed offices as it quit Putin's putrid pariah state

Re: "Where were you when the USA murdered 1 million Iraqis?"

The Reg was around in the early 90's before the web - it was an emailed newsletter sent every two weeks.

India flies – and lands – reusable autonomous spaceplane

Launch costs

"ISRO hopes the vehicle one day makes it possible to launch payloads to orbit for just $4,000/kg – well below the cost of competing launch services."

I'd assume that their launch cost estimates are for a rocket with a reusable first stage. By the time they have the full stack flying SpaceX will have Starship/Superheavy, RocketLab will have Neutron, etc - all fully reusable. But currently the Falcon 9 costs $67M and can take as much as 17,400kg to LEO in reusable mode which works out to $3850/kg.

China crisis is a TikToking time bomb

It's not the data.

The real problem is the algorithms that suggest videos to watch. Subtle promotion of pro-chinese, anti outgroup videos.

How to get the latest Linux kernel on your Ubuntu box

Re: Latest Kernal

If I was running Windows and the current version of Windows didn't properly support my hardware my only choice would have been to buy new hardware. At least with Linux I have other options.

Latest Kernal

I'm running Linux kernel 6.1.13 on Linux Mint 20. I grab the sources from the Linux kernel archive and compile it. I started doing it years ago when my wifi chipset was dropping the connection - using the latest and greatest kernel fixed it. Then later I moved to a new CPU with GPUs that weren't supported by the stock kernel.

I've got it set up such that it takes just a few minutes to set it up to compile, and then just a single command to install it once the compile has finished.

I usually take the current stable kernel but wait until it has received a number of revisions. I have never had any problems even though I've done this dozens of times.

Second-hand and refurbished phone market takes flight amid inflation hike

Wait on buying new

If you wait a few months after a phone's introduction you can often find pretty good discounts. Buying used means you don't know if the previous owner abused the battery.

Soyuz leak puts a stop to planned ISS spacewalk and work on Nauka module

Escape pod

Hopefully they can get it fixed - after all it's how the Russians will get back to earth.

Look! Up in the sky! Proof of concept for satellites beaming energy to Earth!

Re: You also get the problem ....

If you put it in GEO you have the problem of those pesky LEO satellites zipping through the beams - will they get fried?

RIP: Kathleen Booth, the inventor of assembly language

Re: Good long life and a lasting legacy

Took IBM 360 assembly in college - a short one credit course where we used punch cards - it was the 1970's. It really taught me how computers work. Later (almost two decades) I used my understanding to rewrite some CFD codes more than doubling their speed. And there were plenty of other "hacks" I was able to do especially back when computers were 16 bit and memory was precious.

One of the most "cost effective" courses I ever took.

Calamity capsule: Boeing's Starliner losses approaching $1B

And limited use of Starliner

Another problem for Boeing is that they use the Atlas V booster to launch Starliner - which is going out of service. They will have to get it requalified on a new booster (Vulcan, New Glenn, ....) if they want to use it on future missions beyond the current number contracted with NASA.

The new GPU world order is beginning to take shape

Recession?

If there is a worldwide recession Nvidia may end up sitting on a whole lot of product. And if they slash prices to move it, they will piss many off those who paid the original price.

Scientists find gasses from Earth in rocks from early Moon

Re: Sounds sketchy

..... And then the journalists either get it wrong, or try to sensationalize it.

Russia: Hey, don't act surprised if we're still on the ISS in 2030

They're broke

With what money are the Russians going to build a space station? Their economy is in shambles and the sanctions will take years to end even if Putin is deposed. There is a huge brain drain away from the space program to other fields even before the war, and now there is a brain drain away from Russia due to the war. Their military is a mess - depleted material and manpower - which will have a higher priority than a space program. And their space program has lost its profit centers - commercial space launches, selling Soyuz rockets to ESA, and flying other countries astronauts to the ISS.

Demand for smartphones is drying up

Good enough

It doesn't take that new of a smartphone if all you do is surf the web, text, make phone calls, and take some pictures. After almost 5 years the battery is still in good shape - I try to keep from going below 30% very often, and never below 20%.

Dmitry Rogozin sacked as boss of Russian space agency Roscosmos

That agreement doesn't change the number of flights or seats SpaceX will be flying - it's a 1:1 swap of seats.

Smart thermostat swarms are straining the US grid

Electric car rebalancing

Electric cars will become the main type of vehicle in the future. To help the grid just control the charging of the cars - when the spikes occur reduce the charge rate on the cars.

Five accused of trying to silence China critics in US

Re: Double standards

"A first amendment argument could be made by those whose reviews were deleted because critical of the xi book, less so by Amazon."

First amendment only applies to the US governments (federal, state, local) and not to companies.

How a botched kernel patch broke Ubuntu – and why it may happen again

Stock kernels

I'm running a Ubuntu variant, Mint. It's been years since I've used the kernel that comes with the distro (except during initial installation), I just download the latest release from kernel.org, compile and go. I started doing that when I had some problems with the distro kernel.

Graphical desktop system X Window just turned 38

Re: What I like about X

Bring back NeWS!

EV battery can reach full charge in 'less than 10 minutes'

Re: Full charge in 10 minutes?

If it is easy to swap, it is easy to steal.

NASA awaits approval of $24bn 2022 budget

The irony...

It's always amazing to see politicians who expouse cutting spending turn around and vote for endless pork like the SLS........

OneWeb drops launches from Russia's Baikonur spaceport

Re: (eventual) refund?

On the other had this will make it more difficult for Roscosmos to get future customers.

OK, boomer? Gen-X-ers, elder millennials most likely to name their cars, says DVLA

Named just a few..

Had a Mercury Sable station wagon (estate). My sister told me that teenagers like her son wouldn't get caught dead driving one (irony is that they had a minivan). So I named it the "chick magnet".

Bought a red Miata. Wife named it the "Little Red Car".

Bought a red Golf Alltrack. So I named it "Big Red".

Of course we've tried turning it off and on again: Yeah, Hubble telescope still not working

Re: Hope

As I understand it the cost of sending the shuttle up to repair Hubble was similar to building a new Hubble and launching it into space. Sort of makes sense when a shuttle launch cost $1B or so.

When you finish celebrating Linux turning 30, try new Linux 5.14, says Linus Torvalds

Re: Who cares..

You sound like someone who didn't have the opportunity to work with the various flavors of Unix 30 or so years ago if you are trying to equate the differences between the flavors of Unix back then to the differences between the Linux distros. I had the fun of dealing with 6 different Unix flavors and I've used 9 different Linux distros. No comparison.

More Boots on Moon delays: NASA stops work on SpaceX human landing system as Blue Origin lawsuit rolls on

BO losing top management

Quite a few of BO's top managers are leaving - even on projects not directly related to the HLS. Losing key people has to hurt.

And Tory Bruno is wondering "Jeff - where are my engines?"

SpaceX Starship struts its stack to show it has the right stuff

NASA wants to have two providers for sending people into space. Which makes sense if you consider the history of the space shuttle - any problem and it gets grounded for months or years.....

Good news: Jeff Bezos went to space. Bad news: He's back

Re: Ban it!

New Shepard burns hydrogen and oxygen - the byproduct is water.

Focus on the camera, mobile devs: 48MP shooters about to become the sweet spot

I'd prefer a 10MP normal lens and a 10MP 3x telephoto. A 48MP is too much considering the quality of the lens they use.